This film was released on Friday 24th April 2015 and is no longer screening.

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During a break from school, Eric  (Bryan Santamaria), a 10-year-old boy,  is handed over by his exasperated mother to spend some time with his handyman father Gabriel (Carlos Fernando Perez) in a rundown area of downtown Bogota. Gabriel struggles to find work and motivation, but he is given jobs by the well-heeled and well-meaning Maria Isabel (Alejandra Borrero), who shows sympathy and kindness to him and his son. While Eric indulges in the relative luxury Maria Isabel offers, making friends and embracing opportunities, Gabriel finds it increasingly difficult to accept the woman’s charity.

With echoes of De Sica’s The Bicycle Thieves, emerging filmmaker Franco Lolli has made a captivating and beautifully observed realist film about class and familial relations that is neither preachy nor judgemental. Santamaria is brilliant as the innocent kid who is gradually becoming aware of life’s injustices. (Notes by Michael Hayden.)

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★★★★ Irish Indepedent