Alva
After his children are taken away by social services, a troubled loner seeks revenge and flees into the inhospitable forest.
98'
Portugal
IFFR 2019
Henrique is a terse Portuguese smallholder who lives out in the hills, far from civilisation. We realise something is wrong in his life when occasional passers-by ask if there is any news about his daughters. The next day, he drives to a nearby village, follows someone and does something terrible. He then flees back to the hills. The almost entirely dialogue-free second half of the film focuses on Henrique as he hides out. We occasionally hear voices, or a helicopter swoops overhead. In the end, he returns to the village.
Ico Costa explicitly uses an elliptic narrative structure, to allow viewers to form a man from the clay he puts in front of them. Who is Henrique? Can his deed be understood? Is he telling the truth when he says he didn’t want to hurt anyone? In the meantime, almost incidentally, the stunning beauty of the landscape passes by. Henrique washes himself in the waters of a river – a river called Alva.
IFFR 2019
Programme IFFR 2019
Emerging talent with original subject matter and an individual style. Includes the films nominated for the Bright Future Competition for first feature films.
Read more about this programmeAfter his children are taken away by social services, a troubled loner seeks revenge and flees into the inhospitable forest.
98'
Portugal
IFFR 2019
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80'
Germany
IFFR 2019
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77'
Jamaica
IFFR 2019