Aire: Just Breathe

In a world devastated by chemical warfare, with a dwindling human population that beckons the spectre of its extinction, a lone scientist plans to ensure a future. In seeking an antidote to the sterility that has blighted the last vestiges of the male human population, conservation biologist Tania, in tandem with Vida, an artificial intelligence system, has found a symbiotic relationship. The arrival of Azarias, a mysterious and troubled traveller, disrupts the solitary environment Tania has built. But as the two become more relaxed in each other’s presence, Vida feels her own relationship with Tania – and by turn her sense of belonging – is threatened. Writer, director and producer Leticia Tonos Paniagua’s strikingly beautiful fifth feature eschews effects-laden cinema in favour of a more intimate probe into the nature of human existence. The interplay between the three characters, ably performed by Sophie Gaëlle, Jalsen Santana and Paz Vega, as the voice of Vida, becomes a study of loneliness – particularly in our technology-driven, post-lockdown world where industrialised society has driven nature towards the precipice. The sci-fi genre has been considered rare in Caribbean cinema, making Paniagua’s intelligent film all the more precious. (International Film Festival Rotterdam)