Clandestine Childhood

11 yrs 112 minutes • 2011 • 7.0

Argentina 1979. Juan and his family return to their homeland after a long exile to participate in the struggle against the dictatorship controlling the country. As they are persecuted by the police and military, the family is forced to live with false identities. At school Juan is called Ernesto, and he lives in constant fear of being found out. When he meets Maria it becomes even more difficult, and he longs to be able to live his own life as himself. Clandestine Childhood was Argentina’s contribution to the Oscars in 2013 and is based on director Benjamin Ávilas own childhood. In Moviezine, Jonna Vanhatalo Birro writes: This is Avila’s feature film debut and as such impressive. The photography of Iván Gierasinchuk is fantastic throughout, and at times almost poetic. Dream sequences and extreme close-ups are intercut with long sweeping takes, and the result is a very pleasant but moving experience.