With JOANA SANTOS
Written and directed by LAURA CARREIRA
Produced by JACK THOMAS O'BRIEN, MÁRIO PATROCÍNIO
Director of Photography KARL KÜRTEN
Editor HELLE LE FEVRE
Production Designer ANDY DRUMMOND
Costume Design CAROLE K MILLAR
Hair and Makeup KAT MORGAN
Casting by LARA MANWARING, DIOGO CAMÕES
Production Designer ANDY DRUMMOND
Sound Recordist OLIVIER BLANC
Sound Design INES ADRIANA
Sales Agent GOODFELLAS
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Supported by BFI, BBC Film, Screen Scotland and ICA.
A Sixteen Films and BRO Cinema production.
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Winner of Discovery Award - Prix FIPRESCI at the European Film Awards 2026
Winner of BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Film 2025
Winner of BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Screenwriter Film and TV 2025
​Winner of Silver Shell for Best Director at the 72nd San Sebastian Film Festival 2024 
Winner of the Sutherland Award at BFI London Film Festival 
Winner of Best Film at the Dublin International Film Festival 2025
Winner of Best Actress Award at the Angers Premiers Plans 2025
Winner of Best Actress Award at the Thessaloniki Film Festival 2024
Winner of Special Mention: RTVE Another Look Award

Nominated for Best European Film at the Goya Awards 2026
Nominated for Breakthrough British/Irish Filmmaker of the Year at the London Critic's Circle Awards
Nominated for Best Director at the BIFA British Independent Film Awards 2025
Nominated for Best Screenplay at the BIFA British Independent Film Awards 2025
Nominated for Best Debut Director at the BIFA British Independent Film Awards 2025
Nominated for Best Debut Screenwriter at the BIFA British Independent Film Awards 2025
Nominated for Best Film at the National Film Awards UK 2025
Nominated for Best Director at the National Film Awards UK 2025

Honrable Mention: RTVE Another Look Award - San Sebastián Film Festival 2024

Honrable Mention: L'Europe Autor de L'Europe - Prix Sauvage 2025
Honrable Mention: L'Europe Autor de L'Europe - Prix Luna 2025
Honrable Mention: Uruguay International Film Festival 2025

 

Press

Variety:
“Working in somber raincloud hues with deep, sometimes protective cloaks of shadow, cinematographer Karl Kürten often holds Santos’ face in tight closeups that feel both empathetic and confrontational, searching the expressions of a woman now unaccustomed to being seen.” https://variety.com/2024/film/reviews/on-falling-review-1236159232/

The Skinny:
“The grey palette (as shot by Carreira’s regular cinematographer Karl Kürten) instantly alludes to our protagonist’s acute loneliness.” https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/on-falling-review-laura-carreira

The Film Verdict:
“Carreira and her German cinematographer Karl Kürten mostly shoot Aurora in plain, empty, solitary settings. Colours are muted and geography vague.” https://thefilmverdict.com/on-falling/

FESTIVALS: ​

Toronto International Film Festival 2024 - WORLD PREMIERE
San Sebastián International Film Festival 2024 - EUROPEAN PREMIERE BFI London Film Festival 2024
Cannes Film Festival 2025 - Visions Sociales in Cannes Cinéma LEFFEST 2024 - Portuguese Premiere in Main Competition Thessaloniki International Film Festival 2024 - Competition
Caminhos do Cinema Português 2025
Rotterdam International Film Festival 2025
Dublin International Film Festival 2025
Angers Premiers Plans 2025
JEONJU International Film Festival 2025
Gotenborg Film Festival 2025 - Ingmar Bergman Competition
Zurich Film Festival 2024
Rome Film Festival 2024
El Gouna Film Festival 2024
Glasgow Film Festival 2025
Luxembourg City Film Festival 2025
La Rochelle Film Festival 2025
Uruguay International Film Festival 2025
Vienna Labour Film Festival 2025
Panorama of the European Film Cairo 2025
Ostend Film Festival 2025
Durban International Film Festival 2025
CitéCiné Festival 2025 (Carcassonne)
Pune International Film Festival 2025

In her feature debut, Laura Carreira crafts an intimate and unwavering portrait of an isolated Portuguese migrant and her relationship to the precarious labour that constrains and defines her.