Hermanos
2021 · 8m · España
Directed by Santiago A. Zannou
Tones: contemplative, tender
Two brothers who have not seen each other in twelve years reunite, with Murcian gastronomy at the centre of their encounter.
Picked by Zoe
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Two brothers, twelve years apart, reunite over food—sounds like a Hallmark card, and it probably is one, which is exactly why I'm passing.
Zannou situates the reunion within the sensory grammar of Murcian cuisine, a formally deliberate choice that anchors intimacy in regional specificity; the restraint of the piece suggests a filmmaker working in dialogue with the European slow-cinema tradition.
The decision to let paella, regional dishes, and the act of cooking itself do the emotional labor—rather than dialogue or manufactured conflict—is the entire film, and it works because Zannou trusts the camera to stay still and let small hands and shared plates say what needs saying.