Juanicas

This autobiographical first film is a heartbreaking chronicle of a family struggling with rootlessness and mental illness. When she learns that her brother Juan has returned to Quebec after spending some time in their birthplace, Mexico, Karina Garcia Casanova decides to film him. Her purpose is clear from the start: she is not interested in home movies, she is going to make a real film. And her project quickly takes a dramatic turn when Juan suffers a relapse into a desperate bout of depression and paranoia. It is not unusual for a first film to come out of a very personal journey; but rare are those that demonstrate such mature introspection. Here, cinema is nothing less than an essential tool for reconstructing the self.