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Tú me abrasas

You Burn Me | Du verbrennst mich
Encounters 2024
© Películas mirando el techo
Tú me abrasas is an adaptation of “Sea Foam”, a chapter from Cesare Pavese’s “Dialoghi con Leucò” published in 1947. The ancient Greek poet Sappho and the nymph Britomartis meet beside the sea and have a conversation about love and death. Sappho is said to have thrown herself into the ocean from lovesickness. Britomartis apparently tumbled off a cliff and into the water while fleeing from a man. Together, the two discuss the stories and images that have emerged around them to try and understand, at least for a moment, the bittersweet nature of desire. The film adapts not only the text but also footnotes and gaps in the story. For example, the fact that, in 1950, a desperate Pavese committed suicide in a hotel room with this book by his side. Or that Sappho’s poems have survived only in fragments. Or that sea foam is historically and scientifically associated with fertility and bacteria, that is, with life itself. “Everything dies in the sea and comes back to life,” says Britomartis. Tú me abrasas introduces new readings and translations that go beyond the myths by Pavese and Sappho.
by Matías Piñeiro (Director, Screenplay)
with Gabi Saidón, María Villar, María Inês Gonçalves, Agustina Muñoz, Ana Cris Barragán, Michelle Yoon, Katarina Burin Argentina / Spain 2024 Spanish 64' Colour World premiere

With

  • Gabi Saidón (Sappho)
  • María Villar (Britomart)
  • María Inês Gonçalves (Biology Student)
  • Agustina Muñoz (Narrator)
  • Ana Cris Barragán (Lover)
  • Michelle Yoon (Apple-Picker)
  • Katarina Burin (Calypso)

Crew

Director Matías Piñeiro
Screenplay Matías Piñeiro
Cinematography Tomas Paula Marques, Matías Piñeiro
Editing Gerard Borràs
Music Gabi Saidón, María Villar
Sound Mercedes Gaviria Jaramillo
Producers Melanie Schapiro, Garbiñe Ortega, Matías Piñeiro
Associate Producer Arrate Velasco Delgado
Co-Production Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola San Sebastián

Produced by

Trapecio Cine

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Películas mirando el techo

Vitoria, Spain

Photos

Andrea Szelesová

The Slovakian director and animator attended the Václav Hollar Art School in Prague where she made her first animated film, Malady. She continued her studies at FAMU, also in Prague. Her graduation film Sisters premiered at Annecy and went on to screen at more than 60 festivals in 30 countries and received 13 international awards, including Best Slovak Animated Short at Fest Anča. She also works as an animator for feature films and television series.

Filmography (Filmography)

2014 Malady; short animation 2018 19 18 20; short animation 2019 Mon Ami; short animation · Odpolední čaj (Afternoon Tea); short animation 2021 Sestry (Sisters); short animation 2026 En, ten, týky! (Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe!); short animation, Berlinale 2026

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2026