From where does globalization start and where does modernity end? Stretched in a narrow strip between these clichés of our time, diasporic communities come and go in the near-sightedness of the media, creating a ground upon which current societies are being built. Sleep With Your Eyes Open, the latest international offspring of German-born filmmaker Nele Wohlatz who lived and worked in Buenos Aires for 12 years, is born out of this impulse.
Sleep With Your Eyes Open had its world premiere within the 74th Berlinale’s Encounters section. It embodies the literal meaning of its title; within this category ephemeral moments happen as people drift in and out of each other’s lives. In 2016, Wohlatz already proved her sharpness with The Future Perfect a film that roams Buenos Aires through the eyes of a newly arrived Chinese girl who learns Spanish: Best First Feature in Locarno.
It is a thoughtful enquiry into the ever changing function of language and heritage in life today that is itself Brazilian. Spoken dialogue is in Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish, English and German unfolds into something transnational that moves around an ensemble cast with different stories about life.
Being left by her partner who speaks Spanish Kai (Liao Kai Ro), a Taiwanese woman arrives alone on holiday to Recife coastal town of Brazil. There she meets street stall salesman Fu Ang (Wang Shin-Hong) who then disappears. While looking for him she comes across some Chinese migrant workers as well as postcards written by Xiao Xin (Chen Xiao Xin) a Chinese woman sent to live in Brazil with her aunt, whose stories start having resemblances when they find themselves connected through uncommon ties. Leo played by Argentinian actor Nahuel Pérez Biscayart speaking Mandarin also increasingly becomes aware known for his French filmography.
Sound design by Mercedes Tannin and Duu-Chih Tu with cinematography Roman Kasseroller create a feeling of Recife’s spatiality where every corner has inviting brass music playing and the bright colours of the city streets glow through. The 97-minute rambling narrative never becomes aimless, but it does not want to stay with one protagonist, which can be frustrating at times for an audience that wants to dig deeper into these fascinating characters’ lives.
With different pasts shared among communities that live side by side but have different presents Wohlatz moves seamlessly between them and this is also mirrored in its co production credits. Lives in endless exchange systems are contained within objects and the physical world around them, postcards of Recife made in China. “Do you think you really understand the people you are translating?” asks Kai boldly a German-Spanish translator at the start of the film. The answer is always meant to be interrogated not found.
Sleep With Your Eyes Open is produced by Brazil’s Cinemascópio, Taiwan’s Yi Tiao Long Hu Bao, Argentina’s Ruda Cine and Germany’s Blinker Filmproduktion. International sales are handled by China’s Rediance.
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