Educational Media Reviews Online

The very brief story to this film, is that some time ago, a young immigrant befriended an older man while they both spent time out in a nature preserve, which they continue to do, and throughout the film we see both of their struggles with life. It’s a movie not a documentary. It takes place in Spain, so the audio is in Spanish and Basque, with English subtitles, which are well done, though there isn’t a lot of dialog.

It’s a well-made movie that is very nuanced and understated, with a lot of interwoven topics for discussion. This both makes it easier and harder for educational use. Prompts would be helpful for assessment to bring some focus to whatever the instructor’s intent is to showing the film. Discussions, or essay prompts, could include: family, immigration, LGBTQ+, Spain, nature conservation, poaching, friendship, romance, socioeconomic class, and others. The run time is almost an hour and a half, so would likely need to be shown outside of class. Academic departments that might find this useful broadly cover the social sciences and humanities, in particular: global or international studies (especially Spain or Europe), sociology, geography, and film studies.

Awards:
San Sebastian International Film Festival, Irizar Basque Film Award; CineHorizontes, Marsella, Special Mention of the Jury for Best Film; Balneário Camboriú Int'l Film Festival, Critics Award

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