A mother suffering from AIDS with four children prepares for their lives after her death.

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For years now, Mexico has been known not only for its films, but unfortunately also for the violence gleefully depicted in the media. Many areas seem to be so affected by brutality that a quiet life seems almost impossible. In stark contrast, this debut film by Claudia Sainte-Luce shows a family who, despite a mother who has full-blown AIDS, deals with each other without aggression and isn’t threatened from the outside either.

31-year-old Mexican director Claudia Sainte-Luce takes on a difficult subject for her first feature film: a fatherless family of five, whose mother will soon die. Luckily, this story, dominated by female roles, doesn’t goes for cheap emotions or laughs; with its easy melancholy and busy humor, it goes straight to the heart. Sainte-Luce worked on the screenplay for more than a year, which turned out to be worth it: her movie won many awards last year, especially in Locarno and Toronto.