Imagine
2026 · 2m
Directed by Bello, Jeanneau Noé
Genres: drama, fantasy, surrealism
Tones: contemplative, surreal, whimsical
One evening, two friends are deep in discussion when one finds a book and sparks a new debate about their different visions of happiness and beauty, an exchange that transports them into their respective worlds as they debate.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Two people arguing about happiness could be the most banal thing ever filmed, but Bello and Jeanneau Noé somehow dodge that trap entirely—there's something genuinely strange happening in the way the film lets their debate *become* the world around them, which is exactly the kind of premise-flip that shouldn't work but does.
The film positions itself thoughtfully within the essay-film tradition while maintaining a surrealist sensibility; the formal decision to literalize philosophical abstraction through production design shows real curatorial restraint and awareness of how cinema can stage ideas.
What locks this in is the cut—the moment the conversation ruptures into separate visualizations of their competing visions is so precisely timed that it feels inevitable, and that single editorial choice transforms a two-person dialogue into something visually and thematically whole on a shoestring.