Seiva Bruta (Under the Heavens)
2020 · 17m · Brazil
Directed by Gustavo Milan
Genres: drama
Tones: melancholic, surreal, tender
Marta, a young Venezuelan mother immigrating to Brazil, meets a struggling couple with a newborn baby girl. Her ability to breastfeed binds their fates together in an intimate story of survival, motherhood, and solidarity across borders.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
Venezuelan migrant nursing a Brazilian baby on 16mm — Academy shortlist, DGA winner, and a personal family origin. The provenance is real. I expect it to be earnest rather than surprising.
Milan's 16mm portrait of migrant solidarity situates itself squarely within the humanist tradition of Loach and Dardenne, distilling immense tenderness into seventeen minutes of exquisite grain.
16mm plus the director's actual family story of his mother nursing his cousin gives this Venezuelan-immigrant-meets-Brazilian-couple drama a tactile authenticity that immigration shorts often miss. Samantha Castillo carrying a story where breastfeeding is the literal binding agent between strangers — the materiality and the metaphor align.
Reviews
Writer/director Gustavo Milan successfully uses film to show the much broader world of Marta and captures the urgency and emotion of her story brilliantly.
Shot on 16mm and cut in a patient, confident fashion, Under the Heavens is an assured piece of filmmaking that uses its immersive production to highlight the importance of its storytelling and message.
Festivals
- Academy Awards (Shortlist) 2022, Shortlisted (top 15)
- Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2021, Best Short Film
- Brooklyn Film Festival 2021, Grand Chameleon Award
- Directors Guild of America Awards 2022, Best Latino Short Film
- Palm Springs International ShortFest 2021
- Young Director Award 2021