Iceberg

Gabriel Velázquez : 2011

The tip of the iceberg only shows a fraction of a larger picture. The same applies to the emotions of the teenagers in this subdued coming-of-age film. Jean-Jacques Rousseau commented: "Adolescence is like a second birth. In the first a child is born, in the second, a man or a woman. And it's always painful". We follow several teenagers during a cold winter in a small town by the river. 13-year-old Mauri is mourning his father who died in an accident. Rebecca, 12, tries to survive during her first year at boarding school, in the belief that her parents don't care about her. And two boys aged 17 and 18 lead an apparently carefree life in a small hut by the river. Little is said in this fragile, delicate and beautifully filmed drama, but the feelings of these struggling children are revealing. Sometimes their stories brush against each other, but all are bearing a hidden trauma, wrestling with their own demons. The film won a Special Mention at Gijón International Film Festival 2011.