Air Conditioner

Thursday, March 17 / 9:15pm / Ottawa Art Gallery

Bump / Air Conditioner

Feature presentation \

magic realism \ offbeat comedy \ Africa now

Angola’s sweltering capital Luanda is mysteriously afflicted by a strange phenomenon of air conditioning units falling from buildings, as if engaged in some mass technological suicide. The humble, soft-spoken security guard Matacedo is tasked with heading out into the street to recover a functioning unit for his sweaty, irritable, and powerfully affluent boss. Matacedo’s journey will take him into some very unusual situations with some very peculiar characters. Tracked by a fluid, lyrical Steadicam through the dusty streets of Luanda, he walks the city’s thoroughfares, avenues, and backstreets, all the while dodging falling air conditioners. At once a quasi-sci-fi tale, a magic realist road movie, and incisive commentary on the class system in contemporary Angola, Air Conditioner is a quirky, clever, miniature marvel. Unforgettable. You’ll never look at air conditioners the same way again. Says The Guardian, “There’s something both comfortingly dissociated and warmly engaged about Air Conditioner, as it lulls Matacedo along on his quest to composer Aline Frazão’s superb, melancholy score, making the film a kind of dreamscape elegy to Luanda. The tech may be on the blink, but this striking debut makes humanity seem like a beautiful malfunction.”

- Tom McSorley

Short film \