Ariel

Ariel is a 33-year-old Argentine who loses both his lower legs in an accident. He quickly determines to walk again one day, on prosthetic legs that he will design himself. Fortunately, he can use his hands to do what his legs no longer can. And what’s more, he’s a pretty inventive technical engineer. But how do you get back to living a normal life in a wheelchair? Canadian director Laura Bari followed Ariel for 10 years, starting in the period following his accident. Ariel takes care of his children, does odd jobs around the house and drives all around in his car. And he also works incessantly on his mechanical legs. He designs them, and with the help of his daughter, makes plaster casts of his knees, where his legs end and the prosthetics will be fitted. Ariel remains remarkably positive considering the arduous journey of transformation he must complete to walk again. But the handicap is not the only cause of setbacks, because his divorce also brings challenges for him. Between the ups and downs of his life, we see dream sequences of Ariel in the sand and on a salt flat, surrounded by people dancing and by different kinds of artificial legs. Will standing on his own two feet remain just a beautiful dream?