Family dynamics that have been worsening for too long tend to become chronic and cannot be easily cured. In the feature film written and directed by Sandra Romero, where the silence passes (The place that passes the silence), Antonio (Antonio Araque) returns to Ecija (Andalusia) to spend the Holy Week with his family and leave the life of Madrid behind for a while. There lives his twin brother Javier and his sister María, and Antonio faces the disability of Javier, who suffers severe back problems, which causes him a daily physical and psychological fatigue.

The family situation does not help either, so Javier uses analgesics and drugs. In this film the silence predominates: the silence of the father, the silence of some relatives in brutal discussions, and the silence produced by the cry of the screaming one. We are shown the influence of Javier's disease on the people in our environment, as we cannot forget that, although they are secondary actors, they are characters with their own life. Sandra Romero brings out the ugly and most beautiful aspects of each of them in a very natural and authentic way. Interviews, debates, situations and scenarios are often made known to us, and we have the opportunity to connect with the characters.

The silence of the back pain, of Javier, of the Virgen de Semana Santa. Metaphorically and literally, I thought of it as a script and a very well-interlaced movie, where silence goes by. It seemed to me like the novel Bar Gloria by Nerea Ibarzabal: the relationships between siblings, the latent tragedies of the family and, of course, the silences, are two crossed works. If you liked one, you'll like the other.

Min Evige

I have the feeling that, when I went to watch New Directors' films, most of them have been dramatic and sad, every year. That feeling is not based on any data, but today's second film has reinforced that idea. Min Evige Sommer (My Eternal Summer), the last feature film by director Sylvia Le Fanu, presents a harsh drama.

Fanny (Kaya Toft Loholt), a 15-year-old girl, leaves with her father and mother on holiday to spend together the last summer of her mother. The mother is in the final phase of a terminal illness and all three try to enjoy these last moments together. However, Fanny is not able to assume the loss of his mother, who comes soon, and it will be difficult for him to compensate for normality and pain.

When I read the synopsis, I imagined the film more or less, and finally, that's what I expected. The truth is that the film hasn't surprised me very much, but that doesn't mean I didn't like it. The script went where it was planned and dealt with the issues I expected. Grief, pain, happiness and loss; the argument clearly reduces the list of themes. So I don't know if the movie produces sensations or if the subject is too strong and, therefore, generates feelings. Aesthetically, the scenes are beautiful and the scenography is nice. Yes, although at first the assembly seemed very good, then I've gotten used to it, or it's become more normal, one of the two.

I thought it was a sad but quiet job. It has not entered into banal sentimentalism and has built up real situations. It seems to me that it has dealt fairly objectively with the experience of recent days, and as it is often scary to talk about these issues, it is also appropriate to see them from time to time. It is not a film that has caught my attention above all, but it has certainly been a nice, good and strong film.