Catalina Matamoros Puerto’s five-minute film REMEMBRANCE is about the condition of prosopagnosia, otherwise known as face-blindness, and its unfortunate consequences for a man named George. Prosopagnosia is a neurological condition in which the brain area known as the fusiform gyrus, in the cerebral cortex, fails to respond to facial stimuli in a normal way. The condition can either be acquired, typically through a traumatic brain injury, or congenital. Puerto’s main character, George, was born with the disorder and has found ways of working around the awkwardness it poses using routine. But when George meets a woman he develops a crush on, the disorder becomes an issue.

Puerto received a Sloan Production Grant through the University of Southern California to make REMEMBRANCE. The program provides financial support and science mentorship to film students looking to integrate scientific themes or characters into their stories. REMEMBRANCE will be available henceforth in the library of Sloan-supported short films, and will be included in next year’s edition of the Teacher’s Guide which makes these films available for the classroom.

For more on prosopagnosia, Dara Bratt’s Sloan-supported short film IN VIVID DETAIL deals with the condition as well. For more on the science, watch an episode of the Charlie Rose show in which scientists and artists, including Oliver Sacks and Chuck Close, discuss the condition.