Casa do Povo

When an old fan breaks down in a crowded attic in Marseille, the sweltering heat forces a middle-aged Portuguese man and a young Cameroonian man to work together to fix it, despite not sharing a common language.

One hot night, a child captures the ‘beast’ that has long haunted the chicken coops in their village. The next day, racked with guilt at having hunted it down, she joins her cousins to save it from the adults’ punishment, but hides the fact that it was her hand that wounded it.

In the week leading up to her company’s premiere of Giselle, Lena, the understudy to the lead role, struggles to meet the demands of the performance. Seeking escape, she spends a night with friends on the outskirts of the city. As a rave gradually transforms into a forest haunted by echoes of the ballet’s second act, Lena confronts a version of herself still trapped beneath the spotlight.