Rafaela Camelo’s feature ” The Nature of Invisible Things” narrates an unforgettable summer two young girls lived, a summer where they learned a lot about life and the world of grown-ups. The film has been selected as the Opening one for the Generation K Plus section of the 75th Berlin International Film Festival.
3 generations, where the middle one is the most complicated
“The Nature of Invisible Things” by Rafaela Camelo presents three generations: on one side we have the young girls and the grand parents and old people they met, on the other sode the adults , the generation in the middle, that the film narrates as the most complicated, overwhelmed and confused, so much that they cannot even read their children anymore.
The issue of death explained to young kids
“The Nature of Invisible Things” deals directly with death and passing, and the most complex burden the director Rafaela Camelo had to face was explaining it to the two young girls playing the main characters. But sometimes kids can be surprising, as she experienced.
Plot
It is the summer holidays and ten-year-old Gloria accompanies her mother Antônia, a nurse, to her work in a hospital. Gloria is already familiar with the place and often explores it alone. One day, she meets Sofia, also ten, who is there because of her grandmother: Bisa Francisca, a spiritual healer suffering from Alzheimer’s, is in the hospital following an accident at home. Sofia and her mother Simone disagree about what to do next with Bisa. Simone insists that she should stay in the hospital for now; Sofia longs to return her grandmother to the family’s home in the countryside. While Gloria and Sofia dream of leaving the hospital, their mothers – both single parents – form a bond of trust and mutual support. The cycle of death and rebirth has deep meaning for Gloria, Sofia, Antônia and Simone. When Bisa’s departure is imminent, Antônia takes charge of her palliative care. In the countryside, they find a community waiting for Bisa, ready to pray for wandering souls so they can move on.