Amid the rambling shelves of an Edinburgh shopping mall, a lone miner picks through an assortment of items ranging from sex toys to office knick-knacks. The miner is Aurora (Joana Santos), a Portuguese immigrant whose difficult transition to life in Scotland is viscerally depicted in Laura Carreira’s “On Falling.”
“Premiering world-wide at the Toronto International Film Festival and then competing in the main competition at San Sebastian, On Falling draws on the issues of work-related stress that Carrera has previously explored in award-winning short films Red Hill and The Shift. “Coming to Scotland and starting my first job was crucial in introducing me to the world of work,” Carrera said. “It was a huge shock and has completely changed the way I see the world ever since. I’m still coming to grips with it now.” diverse.
“I think our world could be a lot more interesting and creative if we didn’t give up on living for our jobs,” she continued. “I think all my films come from that frustration. I think the high levels of anxiety and the general difficulty in finding our purpose and meaning come from that constraint, especially since most of us have to work so hard to make ends meet.”
For a feature film, “On Falling” proved to be an incredibly challenging project. But through the challenges came creative solutions, such as merging five different warehouses to create a massive fulfillment center that Aurora works in. “We merged the warehouses in the edit. You don’t realize they’re different spaces because the production designer helped create cohesion between the spaces so they all looked the same even though we changed locations.”
While setting the film in a place that closely resembled the real-life inspiration for “The Fall” was important, writing characters who felt equally real was even more important to Carrera. To do that, the filmmaker spent months asking friends of friends to introduce her to local fruit pickers, and she quickly built up a large network of people willing to talk about the ins and outs of the job.
“I wanted to understand how long a shift was, when they had breaks, if they had co-workers. I wanted to understand people’s routines.” That understanding was further strengthened when Carrera went on a public tour of one of Scotland’s largest fulfilment centres, an experience that inspired the scene revealed in the film’s first trailer.
“On Falling is one of the first films produced by Sixteen Films following Ken Loach’s retirement in 2023, and reflects many of the themes the iconic British filmmaker has explored throughout his career, from labour issues to immigration and class inequality. “I think it’s important to work with people who understand where you’re coming from, who have empathy and who want to put that empathy into films,” Carrera said of working with the production company. “I feel very fortunate.”
“Lucky” is also the word Carrera used to describe how she feels about the world premiere of her first film in Toronto. “I feel so honoured. It’s great to be accepted by the festivals because, in a way, they’re the first to see it, which is positive in itself. It’s going to be a new experience for me and I’m excited to get out there, see the films and meet the filmmakers. That’s what it’s all about.”
