When We Encounter The World

(16mm, 11 minutes, color/b&w, sound, 2023, Portugal/USA)

In 1934 an experiment by an amateur-scientist couple began. Named after a genus of moths, the Automeris Project placed a group of young children in an enclosed forest, leaving them to fend for themselves. On return visits, the couple presented self-made films, accompanied by live music, depicting the outside world. For them, these images were the perfect replica of reality seen in their expeditions. Nevertheless, the films were carefully framed, edited, and manipulated to induce a transformation and provoke the development of a new society.

This film revisits the remains of the Automeris Project and recreates one such film made using the few remaining assembly notes.

Co-directed with Leonardo Pirondi
Sound mix: Andrew Kim

Screenings:
• Festival ECRÃ (2024)
• REDCAT: Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater (2024)
• Iowa City International Documentary Film Festival (2024)
• Athens International Film and Video Festival (2024)
• Glasgow Short Film Festival [Bill Douglas Intl. Short Film Competition] (2024)
• San Diego Underground Film Festival (2024)
• Viennale (2023)
• Maysles Documentary Center (2023)
• New York Film Festival [Currents] (2023)
• Curtas Vila do Conde (2023)