Set and shot on the real-life Amazonian La Isla de la Fantasia between Brazil, Colombia and Peru, this Cannes Directors’ Fortnight standout turns the plight of a refugee family into a dreamlike exploration of shifting national, spiritual and emotional boundaries.

Under the cover of darkness, Amparo and her two young children row across the river, endeavouring to leave Colombia’s civil war and their own personal tragedy behind. But something more than a new life awaits on the island that marks their first step towards a fresh start, with Brazilian writer/director Beatriz Seigner stranding her characters in a realm where the living and the dead coincide.

Earning comparisons to Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Lucrecia Martel, Seigner combines an ethereal story with Los Silencios' distinctive setting — an island that’s underwater for four months of the year — as well as the true plights of Colombian immigrants now based in Brazil. Primarily populated by non-professional actors playing roles similar to their own lives, the end result is a meditative and affecting musing on being caught between two worlds.