Sideral
2021 · 15m · Brazil
Directed by Carlos Segundo
Genres: drama
Tones: contemplative, melancholic, surreal
On the northeast coast of Brazil, a family living near a space launch center prepares for the country's first manned rocket launch; the mother, a cleaner who dreams of other horizons, finds in the event a catalyst for her own quiet longing for escape. Shot in monochrome, the film traces the gap between an extraordinary public event and the ordinary weight of a private life.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Segundo earns his Cannes nomination honestly: the choice to film Brazil's northeast in black and white is not an aesthetic affectation but an argument — that the lives of the poor are already being lived in monochrome, waiting for a rocket to bring the color back.
Cannes 2021 Palm-something, Chicago Best Live Action Short, Palm Springs Best International. Fifteen minutes, black-and-white Brazilian northeast, rocket launch as personal escape. Segundo is operating at high level — the chromatic-restraint conceit is structurally honest. Real festival pedigree.
Cannes Palm d'Or competition, Chicago Best Live Action Short, Palm Springs Best International — shot in monochrome to render the Brazilian northeast's emotional malaise as a visual condition. That's the kind of pedigree-and-formal-discipline combo that earns trust.
Reviews
Brazil's first manned rocket launch provides a catalyst for transformation and a leftfield opportunity for escape in Carlos Segundo's bittersweet and dryly absurdist short.
Segundo and his fellow cinematographer capture the film in a pristine monochrome and by way of some artful compositions — the lack of colour serves as a visual signifier of its characters' malaise.
Festivals
- Cannes Film Festival 2021, Short Film Palme d'Or (nominated)
- Chicago International Film Festival 2021, Gold Hugo Award for Best Live Action Short
- Palm Springs International ShortFest 2022, Special Jury Award (Oscar-Qualifying)
- Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival 2022, Canal+ Award
- HollyShorts Film Festival 2022, Best Director