Running Time: 68 Minutes
Starring: Daniel Tadesse, Selam Tesfayie, Quino Piñero, Mengistu Berhanu, Getu Fixa, Shitaye Abraha, Tsegaye Abegaz
Known best for 2019's Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway, writer/director Miguel Llansó has become a festival favourite with his experimental features that carry an absurdist streak. As part of Imagine Film Festival's 40th anniversary, the festival will show Llansó's newest feature, Infinite Summer, alongside his 2015 feature debut, Crumbs.
Opening text effectively paints a picture of this unwelcoming future as, while the population decreases, it is considered an act of neglect to give birth to a new human. Residing within this terrible reality is Candy (Daniel Tadesse), a man who refers to himself as a visitor from another planet. Living with his girlfriend, Sayat (Selam Tesfayie), the pair try to make a better life amidst a wasteland, as they make a garden while living within a bowling alley. Worries plague Candy, as he struggles to believe that he is strong enough to protect his love.
Hovering in the sky is a derelict spaceship, serving as a lingering reminder of how humanity's lives have irrevocably changed for the worse. In search of answers, Candy embarks on a journey across the post-apocalyptic landscape to find the one being that may be able to help; Santa Claus (Tsegaye Abegaz).
Across this 68-minute feature, Llansó show characters utilizing memorabilia in curious ways. Whether it is a record of Michael Jackson's Dangerous promised as payment for a wedding, or a framed photo of Michael Jordan being prayed to for protection, these pop-culture items serve as sacred relics within this declining reality. They are only important in the eye of the beholder, and the beholder has a different view on their values, with some using them as a smokescreen for how unhelpful they actually are.
Peppered throughout the story are instances of a shop owner trying to inflate the importance of items, sharing a nonsensical history to raise the value of something like a Ninja Turtle figure. As part of this world's bartering system, the people craft mythologies and make their own meanings to try connecting with a pre-apocalypse world that they feel distanced from. Admittedly, this point can feel laboured after a while, and comes to instead resemble a sketch idea which feels stretched out.
Despite these curious avenues, the story never forgets about the beating heart courtesy of the central pair. They effectively convey the shared love, leaving their glances and longing while apart to speak volumes. These elements help make Crumbs into a unique vision about materialism, and how the items that we possess are not a substitute for our loved one's company. As Superman proves, all that we need is love.
Crumbs played at Imagine Fantastic Film Festival 2024
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