An upir is a Slavic vampire. And that is what Arthur (Thomas Millot) thinks Vera (Virginia Atenza) his nanny is. After all, she never seems to sleep or eat despite having some sharp-looking teeth. And she always wears black. And her reaction when he cut his finger…
A fantasy shot through the eyes of a young boy Upir is a tale of day to day life and imagination for most of its 10 minute plus credits length. Laura Rembault and cinematographer Vincent Margueritte capture it with a nice natural approach that suits the manner in which the plot unfolds. The film is just past the midpoint before he confesses his suspicions to his giant stuffed bear.
Of course, the story ends with a bit of a bite, it is about vampires after all. But it’s mostly framed as a real-world tale of a young boy with an active imagination and maybe his first crush.
Upir has been playing festivals and is available on Vimeo. There’s also a teaser, which is actually a scene cut from the final version. While Upir is subtitled, the teaser, unfortunately, isn’t.