Intimations of violence

Since being named one of shots’ Rising Stars in 2017, New York-based Mexican director Daniel Uribe has been continuing to create short films that aim to spark debate and inspire social change while telling a good story. 

Inspired by Leslie Morgan Steiner’s TED talk: ‘Why domestic violence victims don’t leave’, he has written and directed this elegant film, Influx, that explores the plight of a mother trapped in a relationship with an abusive alcoholic partner and trying to protect their daughter from the truth. 

Produced by Curfew, the film is set to Uribe’s own poem and is skilfully shot and edited to suggest the aftermath or build up to brutality, with watery visual imagery hinting at the waves of emotions in the household. Eventually the tide of her desperation rises and the mother finds the strength to break free.