Abuelos

Young Ecuadorian documentary filmmaker Carla Valencia Dávila had two very special grandfathers. One was active in the political struggle within his country; the other, a "wonder doctor," healed many terminally ill Ecuadorians. Valencia Dávila realized that their stories complemented one another. Granddad Juan was murdered by the Chilean military dictatorship in 1973. Granddad Remo, through his exceptional medical skills, sought immortality. The film switches back and forth between death and immortality, but also between two landscapes: one section of the film being shot in the leafy green mountains of Ecuador, and the other in the much drier, desolate desert region. Valencia Dávila talks to those who knew the two men: patients who were miraculously cured by Remo, and people who knew Juan and saw him as a dreamer, an activist, a martyr. In this way, she introduces the audience to the dreams of two men who preceded her on the capricious, unpredictable path of life. The result is an intimate film about family, but also about the history of both Ecuador and Chile and about chasing dreams in a more universal sense. Valencia Dávila often seeks out a smile or an emotional moment, with a great eye for the beauty, both in nature and in people.