After years on the high seas, a pirate returns home to his mum. She still loves him unconditionally, just like the day he was born. And that’s despite all the many irritations – he hasn’t been in touch for years, and now has a nose ring and is full of tattoos. And he also carries secrets with him on his return, concealed in the heavy suitcase he brings to the house while coughing up blood. With a gentle pastel colour palette and distinctively animated characters, Alexandre Siqueira tells the story of what it means when a mother is forced to watch her adult child die. Siqueira’s focus also lies on the general intimacy between mothers and children which is sometimes challenged: the pirate tattoos that take some getting used to can also be seen as symbolic of other life decisions that are foreign to a mother at first. Sometimes acceptance also implies letting go.

Marie Ketzscher