During a ballet audition, a young judge is unexpectedly pulled into a haunting vision of her childhood, where the music of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker transforms a traumatic memory into a moment of unexpected grace.
Director’s Note
Pas de Deux was inspired by the way music and movement can awaken buried memories. The film explores how trauma can resurface unexpectedly, and how art offers a fragile space where grief and beauty can coexist.
The story draws from my own relationship with my grandfather, who died shortly after the civil war in El Salvador. In the film, I appear as the young woman in the audience, revisiting a memory where dance becomes a way to imagine a final goodbye.
This film marked the beginning of my exploration of memory, war, and intergenerational transmission, which are themes that continue to shape my work today.
