A series of close-ups dwell in colorful details, revealed to be, through a gradual zoom out, parts of various everyday objects – which, we later find out, are actually abandoned objects, that is, with no human presence nearby. Like a magic trick, “Empty Places” slowly unveils, in a creative and intelligent way, a world devoid of people. The universe is now inhabited by several objects – a mirror ball, a pool cleaning robot, a can of food, or a machine that continuously shoots tennis balls – which have been left to their own devices, free from the purpose they once had. A Beethoven sonata scores the images, evoking a sad nostalgia for the emptiness left behind by humans, in this imagining of what the world will be once we are gone. However, it is possible that, in this absence, these forgotten objects gain a new autonomy, and life goes on, at least as long as the music keeps on playing. This is filmmaker Geoffroy De Crécy’s debut at Curtas. (JA)