Instinct

2018 Official Selection
Directed by Maria Arida
2017 | USA | 18:00 min.
Horror

Isabelle is a gallery owner who lives a lonely and isolated life. When Isabelle meets the performance artist Camila Braum, she finds out that they both might have more in common than she had expected. Will Isabelle allow herself to let Camila in without giving in to her true nature?

 

Director Bio
Maria Arida is a Brazilian writer-director who is about to get her M.F.A. degree in film Directing at the American Film Institute. Before moving to the US to attend AFI, Maria developed her career in Brazil where she graduated in filmmaking at FAAP and had an extensive experience as an assistant director. She had the opportunity of working closely with renowned directors including Hector Babenco (Academy award nominee for Kiss of the Spider Woman) and Eduardo Coutinho (Edifício Master). So far, Maria has directed six short films in genres such as thriller, horror and drama. INSTINCT is her AFI thesis film.
Director Statement
My main focus as a writer-director is to tell female driven stories. Thriller and horror are my favorite genres. Exploring the dark side of human nature is a recurrent theme of my work. However, there’s a dark side of women that’s usually not portrayed in films and TV shows. Female characters are usually portrayed as delicate, sweet, and loving. But what happens when the dark side of our souls takes over? This is a question I’ve often asked myself and the main theme I want to examine as a filmmaker.