Mahalia Jackson’s song (“I’m on my way”, 1958), heard during the first minute and a half of “Empty Hands”, sets the short film’s tone: Caetano Reconcavinho, who lives a lonely routine working at a funeral home preparing corpses for their wake, is depressed since his wife died after falling from a cliff while taking a selfie. Determined to commit suicide, Caetano seeks advice from Fausto, a corpse being prepared for his funeral who, in a reference to Goethe’s timeless legend, offers him an irrefutable pact. In an unabashedly tragicomic tone, with colors and shots tipping a hat to Wes Anderson’s visual style, the short revolves around themes of solitude, emptiness, and the fear of happiness. Directed and written by Paolo Marinou-Blanco, debuting at Curtas, “Empty Hands” marks his return to filmmaking after “Goodnight Irene” (2008), a feature also based around an unusual friendship between two loners. (PC)