Blue Animal

Rafael Spínola

IndieLisboa 2021 •

Brazil, Documentary, 2020, 6′

A love story is always a ghost story and this story is haunted by a relationship that has recently ended and a pet that has died. An email movingly narrated, tinged by the blues of the Super8 images.


A letter, a loss and the endless struggle between the head and the heart. Blue Animal is an intimate testimony that addresses someone who whispers in our ear, in a closed circle. A request to the receiver and wanting to stretch the memory and presence of the dear animal both amplify the loss; it is hard to “stop a broken heart”. Condensed and drenched in blue, the film fills us with a close voice of affection which lengthens its short duration - “everything ends but the ending”. (Carlota Gonçalves)