Pepa Lubojacki’s debut movie, If Pigeons Turned to Gold, is part of the Forum selection at this year’s Berlinale. A self-made work, the film focuses on the themes of addiction and intergenerational trauma. Spanning more than seven years and shot on an iPhone, the film tries to answer questions around addiction - in this case, alcohol – and reflects on the impact it can have on the people around us.

From the cinematic language viewpoint, Lubojacki’s is an extremely experimental approach, as befits a film in the Forum section. Whilst very raw, with Pepa frequently following their brother and their cousins, David and Marco, in their daily lives as they live without any real home and drink until they feel numb, the film also uses AI to convey an odd and unsettling feeling. Old family photos speak and move, crystallised in time yet brought back to life artificially, even though their future has been forever changed from what it was back then, in those moments of airiness and ingenuity which characterise childhood.

The questions the film poses, sometimes through the use of funky, dare we say, infographics, are soul-shattering and relate to the feeling of hopelessness that Lubojacki feels over her brother’s addiction, which has already claimed their father’s life. The contrast of the iPhone with the AI imagery and the animated pigeon Instagram-filter (!) is sharp and probably won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Indeed, If Pigeons Turned to Gold is a peculiar artwork which won’t appeal to wider audiences, who probably aren’t its primary target.

The themes the film deals with are, however, universal, as every person has come across the concept of addiction at some point or in some way or another, whether firsthand or by witnessing it in a loved one. What Lubojacki does is to try to make sense of things and to save their brother, after feeling somewhat responsible for their family’s disgraces. As spectators, we do feel part of that suffering, despite the ease with which we slip in and out of the story due to the occasionally alienating AI animation.

As previously mentioned, this isn’t a film for everyone. Its length (110') will probably be a cause for complaint too, and could (and should) have been reduced, not only to ensure more streamlined narration, but also to lend greater force to the gut-punch by reducing overly diluted elements which distract from the stronger scenes. In fact, the feature’s biggest flaw is also its strength: unevenness. What makes the pace interesting also leaves the structure feeling outside the director’s control, despite their spontaneous and heartfelt approach to the theme.

If Pigeons Turned to Gold was produced by the Czech Republic’s Claw Films and Slovakia’s GUČA Films, and is sold worldwide by Croatia’s Split Screen.