Films

Thanatophobia – fear of losing someone you love

In the Naarièges cemetery, Mino looks after the garden that surrounds the graves, the deceased and, more often than not, those who mourn them. Although he repeatedly says he likes to be alone, the young man seems to be surrounded day and night: sometimes by a widow who brings him flowers, sometimes by a telephonic ghost, sometimes by a giant spider that sneaks in between the shadows of his room. How much longer can Mino hide the pain and longing that he feels? Intersected both by archive images and sounds and by intertitles written by a voice from beyond, this medium-length film shot on 16mm is, despite its morbidity, a beautiful love letter. The sensitivity that Mathieu Morel employs in his work with form reveals not only a great talent for composition, but also for thinking the transcendence of certain questions – such as how do we continue to live after losing the one we love the most? Premiered at the Champ-Élysées Film Festival.