Alva

Ico Costa : 2019

Henrique is a terse Portuguese smallholder who lives out in the hills, far from civilisation. We realise something is wrong in his life when occasional passers-by ask if there is any news about his daughters. The next day, he drives to a nearby village, follows someone and does something terrible. He then flees back to the hills, where we focus on Henrique as he hides out. We occasionally hear voices, or a helicopter swoops overhead. In the end, he returns to the village. Who is Henrique? Can his deed be understood? Is he telling the truth when he says he didn't want to hurt anyone? In the meantime, almost incidentally, the stunning beauty of the landscape passes by. Henrique washes himself in the waters of a river – a river called Alva. Ico Costa's feature debut premiered in competition in the Bright Future section at International Film Festival Rotterdam 2019.