Pleiades (or Going Home), a short made for 2×25—a project for the 50th edition of Film Fest Gent—epitomizes the essence of the number two by pairing a composer (Gustavo Santaolalla) and a director (Jacqueline Lentzou) for the creation of one film. Choosing this particular story then is more than appropriate because in it everything is double. Who are the Pleiades? They’re both seven sisters, the nymphs accompanying the goddess Artemis in her escapades, and an asterism. Greek myth has it that they were turned into stars and, here too, are two versions behind this metamorphosis. In one they take their lives, driven by grief over the death of their other sisters, the Hyades. In the other, Zeus transforms them into stars to protect them from the giant Orion, who, driven by an obsession he calls love, wanted to rape them. Is it choice or fate then they’re forced to face?
The short doesn’t take a stand in this as every woman wears a different facial expression. Perhaps, though, there’s no need for a fixed explanation. At the short’s core is the concept of sisterhood (both literal and metaphorical) since the moment they become one collective hug marks the beginning of Santaolalla’s score. None of them is alone in this as in all shots—except one—they’re grouped together. Words are unnecessary. Looking at these women from different angles, only one thing is undebatable: no matter what form they take—or where they are going—they’re each other’s home.