On Falling
Impressive debut about a young Portuguese migrant worker who works long hours in a Scottish distribution centre. Made by the production team behind Ken Loach’s films.
Aurora (Joana Santos) is a Portuguese migrant living in Scotland and works as a ‘picker’ at an enormous warehouse. Day after day, she walks through endless shelves, wielding a relentlessly beeping barcode scanner. As Aurora struggles to navigate the quiet indignities of her workplace – surprise drug tests, endless targets, patronising managers – her loneliness mounts. She seeks to navigate life in a foreign country through encounters with her colleagues.
On Falling is a compelling study of life in the jaws of late stage capitalism, a sobering depiction of the invisible workers who prop up our insatiable appetite for convenience. After premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, and winning awards at both the London and San Sebastián film festivals, On Falling announces Carreira as a distinctive new voice continuing a tradition of UK workers films with nuance and warmth (source: IFFR, adapted).