Antidote to a Curse

It's the 90s. Silvio Portelli returns to Melbourne after time spent teaching in England and rents a room from the charismatic octogenarian, Nancy Triganza. Nancy is having an elaborate aviary constructed to indulge her passion for birds. At a city sex shop, Silvio meets the mysterious Zlatko, a Bosnian immigrant and, in a previous life, a collector of rare birds. Silvio becomes obsessed with Zlatko, and his own journal and dreams begin to mirror Zlatko's past, and in time the reality of what happened in Bosnia. Such revelations are counterpointed by Silvio's own tense wait to learn the results of his tests for HIV.

It's the 90s. Silvio Portelli returns to Melbourne after time spend teaching in England and rents a room from the charismatic octogenarian, Nancy Triganza. Nancy is having an elaborate aviary constructed to indulge her passion for birds. At a city sex shop Silvio meets the mysterious Zlatko, a Bosnian immigrant and, in a previous life, collector of rare birds. Silvio becomes obsessed with Zlatko, and his own journal and dreams begin to mirror Zlatko's past, and in time the reality of what happened in Bosnia. Such revelations are counterpointed by Silvio's own tense wait to learn the result so of his tests for HIV.