'Unborn' by Puck Verkade, 2021
HD Video, Stereo sound
1920 x 1080

In Unborn we follow the internal monologue of a hybrid pigeon-persona who questions her inevitable cursed fate of parenthood.

As a pigeon she is supposed to build a nest to lay her eggs, but she fundamentally doubts her part in the cycle of life.
Several absurd scenes show her struggle with popular belief, nightmarish fantasies around the trappings of parenthood, and indirectly address reproductive rights without perpetuating the polarising perspective present in ongoing public debate. The spell-like musings of the crow resemble her conscience that echo society's expectations around reproduction. The presence of the egg as an haunted object with magical properties in this film becomes an unsettling interpretation of (in)fertility as a curse.

The video incorporates various digital and hand-made techniques like stop-motion animation, set design, sound design and performance to unfold an uncanny world.