Set in Mexico City over the course of a single day, this film is based on the true story of an older man’s decision to accept his homosexuality. Told without any dialogue, Vapor is a cinematic exploration of shame, catharsis, and ultimately, transcendence.
Vapor (2010)
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Directed by Kaveh Nabatian
Produced by Marie-Luc Beaudin, Cédric Bourdeau
Stéphane Tanguay
Written by Kaveh Nabatian
Starring Marco Ledezma Evergon
Music by Bell Orchestre
Cinematography Christophe Collette
Edited by Elric Robichon
Production company Productions Kinesis
Distributed by Locomotion Distributions
Awards:
Canada’s Top Ten (TIFF)
Best Cinematography (Prends ça court!)
Best Sound Design (Prends ça court!)
Silver Palm Award, Mexico International Film Festival
Prix du Public, Image+Nation (Montreal)
Canadian Screen Award Nomination for Best Short Fiction
Jutra Nomination for Best Short Fiction
Vapor is a Canadian comedy-drama short film, directed by Kaveh Nabatian and released in 2010. The film depicts the emotional journey of Enrique Salgado (Marco Ledezma), a middle-aged gay Mexican man, through shame, fear and internalized homophobia toward self-acceptance, after being invited to pose in the nude for a photographer (Evergon).
The film was named to the Toronto International Film Festival’s year-end Canada’s Top Ten list for 2010. It received a Genie Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Drama at the 31st Genie Awards, and a Prix Jutra nomination for Best Short Film at the 13th Jutra Awards.
Imdb user
I saw this short at CFC’s World Wide Short Film Festival in early June of 2011. I was stunned by the visual achievement and the poetry of the images. The slowed down images of men of different ages walking through a steam bath linger with me. I can feel their bones and the weight of their bodies. Like heavenly sculptures put into motion. The beauty we fail to see everyday is highlighted here. There are many striking images from this film that have stay with me long after the initial viewing.
Juxtaposing the intimacy of the bathhouse with the larger urban landscape from a fatalist view of an extremely high angle, pulling back as if it’s the final shot of a film, in a sort of Koyaanisqatsi kind of way, jars, yet adds a fatalism and austerity equivalent to the lead character’s expression of sexual longing and intimacy. This is a highly accomplished film. I simply fell in love with it. It has cast a lasting spell on me and I eagerly await Kaveh Nabatian’s next work and long to see what he does in a longer format.
Likewise actor Marco Ledezma gives a highly credible and brave performance as a man outing himself later in life in very dramatic fashion. Find a way to see this film. It is exceptionally powerful.
