PSEUDOSPHYNX

Ana Vaz, Brazil, 16mm > digital, 8 min, 2020

Pseudosphinx is the scientific name of the fire caterpillars soon to become butterflies, or as they’re commonly (and auspiciously) called: witches. Pseudosphinx is at the same time sphinx, meaning inhuman chthonic monstrosity that spells charades; and pseudo, as in artificial, insincere, deceptive, unreal, illusive, mimetic. Pseudosphynx keeps its meaning veiled, like a secret kept by those who save in their retinas the haptic impression of its fight.

Ana Vaz (1986). 15+ films since 2008; screenings at venues including Tate Modern, Palais de Tokyo, Curtas Vila do Conde, Visions du Réel, and New York Film Festival.

Film Society of Lincoln Center Kazuko Trust Award (2015), Grand Prize at MCFF (2015), MCFF Chrysalis Fellow (2020). Founding member of COYOTE collective, an interdisciplinary group working between ecology and political science. Originally from Brasilia, Brazil, currently lives in Lisbon, Portugal.