Lapse by Caroline Cavalcanti
In-venue Screening
Date
1 March 2026 (Sun), 5:45pm
7 March 2026 (Sat), 3:10pm
8 March 2026 (Sun), 3:10pm
Venue
Language: Portuguese
Duration: 25 minutes
Subtitles in Chinese and English, dubbing in Cantonese, audio description in Cantonese, house programme in audio format available; guide dogs welcome
Online Screening
Date
30 March – 25 May 2026
Language: Portuguese
Duration: 25 minutes
Subtitles and accessible captions in Chinese and English, dubbing in Cantonese and English, audio description in Cantonese and English; house programme in audio format available
A short film about isolation, companionship and understanding
Set in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Lapse is a quiet, thought-provoking short film written and directed by Caroline Cavalcanti, and deftly carried by young leads Beatriz Oliveira and Juan Queiroz.
Bel and Juliano, two teenagers caught in separate acts of vandalism, meet doing community service in a public library. Bel, a skateboarder and artist, is deaf and faces the challenges of communicating through sign language. Cool and aloof, she catches the attention of Juliano, who has a passion for rap and makes audio-recordings of his everyday life. When Juliano learns sign language to share his thoughts and anxieties about life with Bel, they slowly establish a friendship. Through their shared experiences and struggles, they find ways to resist the toughness of their lives and the ignorance and neglect of the system.
Lapse is the second short film by Brazilian director and screenwriter Caroline Cavalcanti. It has screened in Brazil and internationally, and been recognised with a number of awards, including the Canal Brasil Short Film Award at the 2023 São Paulo International Short Film Festival, the Jury Award at Kinoarte Film Festival, Brazil, and a Special Mention at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival.
Caroline Cavalcanti (Director)
Brazilian director and screenwriter Caroline Cavalcanti is inspired by the country’s independent cinema scene. After becoming a hard of hearing person as an adult, she has experienced different relationships with sound. In 2020, she received the Cardume Cabíria award for her screenplay Zero Decibel. She is the creator of the web series Absurdas, which was nominated for the Best Original Idea at the 2022 Rio Webfest. In 2023 she received the Best Director award at the Kinoarte Film Festival, Brazil for her short film Lapse.
