Embers

In a not-too-distant future, an infection has plagued the human race. Despite their ragged clothes and decrepit surroundings, people look and act the same, except for one thing - they can't form new memories. A man and a woman wake up next to each other, wearing similar pieces of cloth tied around their wrists. They dub each other "Ben" and "Jenny," try to piece together their relationship, and search for a better place to live. Meanwhile, a small boy wanders the city aimlessly by himself. An agitated teen wrecks anything that gets in his way. And a professor tries to defeat the symptoms of the disease before he too forgets what they are. Only Miranda and her father, living in a high-tech subterranean bunker, have any recollection of the past. But is life worth living without interacting with the rest of the world? An atmospheric and eerie speculative drama, writer-director-editor Claire Carré's debut film EMBERS explores the nature of memory and what it means to be human. (Cleveland International Film Festival)