In a camper van, two adults discuss history. Outside, two young sisters argue over a paper aeroplane. The behaviours exhibited by both children and adults are more similar than one would initially think. In the short film Dissection of an Incoherence in Crisis – which is about to world-premiere as part of EFP’s Future Frames at the 59th edition of Karlovy Vary IFF – Spanish director Nausica Serra engages in a subtle examination of the clash between id and ego, and how behaviour in adults is still easily passed down to children.

Serra studied as a director on the Official Cinematography Degree of ESCAC and is now currently taking a Higher Master's Degree in Directing. Whilst there, she is also taking further courses in directing actors, non-professional actors and children, and the coordination of intimacy.

Cineuropa: This is a very carefully constructed film, in which the behaviour of children mirrors that of adults.
Nausica Serra: The film originates from the interest in showing a human behaviour that captivates me: the inability to accept one's own mistakes and the other being right. In other words, why is it so hard for us to admit that sometimes others know more than we do, or are right, or are simply better? This instinctive envy or denial of one's own inferiority can be seen in a very evident and schematic way among children. But one thing that fascinated me, too, was the idea that, even though we adults cover up our conflicts with sophistication and intellectualism, the instinctive, animal, primal root of those conflicts is the same.

Tell us about finding the right cast. It’s a smallish group, but the chemistry is crucial to making the film work. How did you go about finding the right individuals?
The choice of the right cast was a fundamental element for the film. It was a very long and complicated process, as we wanted to prioritise that the links between characters were also the real-life ones in order to reduce the idea of representation to a minimum, giving way to the mimicry between reality and fiction. Above all, we wanted Artur and Laura to be a real couple, and Aran and Laia to be real sisters. We were also clear that we wanted the children not to be actors. Finally, after a lot of varied research and a long casting process, we found the perfect people for the roles with those natural bonds.

How important was it for you not to take obvious sides in the film?
For me, it was very important to always work with subtlety. Both in the process of writing the script and when directing the actors, I wanted to stay as far away from obviousness as possible. Treading this fine line between being able to understand the conflict but not being too obvious was one of the biggest challenges of the project. Breaking the moral labels of good and evil was also a fundamental aim in the construction of the characters. The complexity and contradictions of each and every one of the characters diluting this representative border of evilness is one of the elements that help us see the attitude of Artur and Aran as pathetic and incoherent, but at the same time, to feel represented and reflected in situations where we have all acted in a very similar way.

What projects are you working on next?
I am currently working on a short film whose main premise is to explore the limit between the concept of self-care and the concept of self-centredness. At a time when it seems that self-love is the priority, and that contemporary psychology promotes the focus on looking out for oneself, I want to explore the boundaries of what happens if we all act under these premises, if our therapist tells us all: “You have to prioritise yourself.” False altruism and self-centredness disguised behind discourses of self-love as the fundamental basis of this new hypocrisy or incoherence is a premise I would like to explore.