The Bird Can't Fly

An aging hotel chef travels to the half-buried desert town of Fairlands to attend the funeral of her only daughter, only to meet the grandson she never knew she had in director Threes Anna's semi-surreal drama. It's been years since Melody has returned to Fairlands, and in the years since her last visit the town has been almost entirely buried by red sands carried on sweeping winds. Even the once-prosperous Paradise Hotel has nearly been swallowed up by the encroaching desert -- the lettering of its large sign just barely peering out over miles of nothingness. Nearly everyone Melody had ever known in Fairlands has since passed away, and now the only people left in this dying town are the families of the few remaining prospectors who scour local diamond mines in search of jewels that will put food on the table. In the streets, a roving gang of feral children led by the charismatic River move forward with plans to create a small army that will rule the territory on the backs of tamed ostriches. When Melody learns that River is her long lost grandson and that his father Scoop doesn't seem bothered by the boy's eccentric behavior, her attempts to win the boy's favor by baking a pie made with ostrich eggs immediately backfires. Later, after discovering that Scoop had intercepted all of Melody's letters to her daughter June in addition to ensuring that none of June's letters reached their intended destination, the enraged mother confronts the unrepentant swindler as a sandstorm descends upon the town and River's gang launches a violent attack on Scoop's house. Subsequently setting out into the blinding winds in search of her missing grandchild, Melody eventually finds River before the pair is sent tumbling into the sand-swept hotel. It is here, in the belly of this strange underworld formerly known as the Paradise Hotel, that the memories of the past will drive Melody and River to confront their painful history in an effort to finally understand the profound effect that June's death has had on both of their lives.