Synopsis
Flor, a young migrant from Honduras, traverses Mexico by freight train following the route her missing brother took a couple of months ago. During a stop in a small town Flor joins a group of migrants. Together they stay at a migrant shelter, where she inquires about her brother.
At night the group is brutally abducted by armed men and driven out into the desert. As they are being unloaded from the truck, Flor manages to flee into a field. As her kidnappers hunt her she sees only one escape: She transforms into a tree.
Awards
Winner of the Main Award at Drama International Short Film Festival Pitching Lab 2020
Selected for the Young Blood Pitch at Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis 2021
Team and specs
Production status: Financing
Hybrid short film / aprox. 15-20min. / color / HD / Spanish
Production countries: Germany & Mexico
Directed by Gisela Carbajal Rodríguez & Felix Klee
Written by Gisela Carbajal Rodríguez, Felix Klee & Sofía Gómez Cordova
Produced by University of Television and Film Munich (Germany) & Brujazul (Mexico)
Approach
The film employs a hybrid approach. Throughout, the film combines social realism and poetic myth.
For the role of Flor we cast an actress, but all the other characters she meets during her search are real migrants, shelter workers and people on the street. Some parts like the end are meticulously scripted while others like the encounters at the migrant shelter allow for very flexible hybrid story-storytelling. To bring those different approaches together, we have developed a visual concept that encompases the two modes.
The transformation into the tree is equally inspired by ancient greek myths and the mystical works of Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Lucrecia Martel and Carlos Reygadas. We wanted to find an image for her disappearance. She is not dead, but she is not alive either. She is just gone, in a different state of being. The roots of the tree force her journey to a halt.
Flor, a young migrant from Honduras, traverses Mexico by freight train following the route her missing brother took a couple of months ago. During a stop in a small town Flor joins a group of migrants. Together they stay at a migrant shelter, where she inquires about her brother.
At night the group is brutally abducted by armed men and driven out into the desert. As they are being unloaded from the truck, Flor manages to flee into a field. As her kidnappers hunt her she sees only one escape: She transforms into a tree.
Awards
Winner of the Main Award at Drama International Short Film Festival Pitching Lab 2020
Selected for the Young Blood Pitch at Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis 2021
Team and specs
Production status: Financing
Hybrid short film / aprox. 15-20min. / color / HD / Spanish
Production countries: Germany & Mexico
Directed by Gisela Carbajal Rodríguez & Felix Klee
Written by Gisela Carbajal Rodríguez, Felix Klee & Sofía Gómez Cordova
Produced by University of Television and Film Munich (Germany) & Brujazul (Mexico)
Approach
The film employs a hybrid approach. Throughout, the film combines social realism and poetic myth.
For the role of Flor we cast an actress, but all the other characters she meets during her search are real migrants, shelter workers and people on the street. Some parts like the end are meticulously scripted while others like the encounters at the migrant shelter allow for very flexible hybrid story-storytelling. To bring those different approaches together, we have developed a visual concept that encompases the two modes.
The transformation into the tree is equally inspired by ancient greek myths and the mystical works of Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Lucrecia Martel and Carlos Reygadas. We wanted to find an image for her disappearance. She is not dead, but she is not alive either. She is just gone, in a different state of being. The roots of the tree force her journey to a halt.
Pitching video (German)