A day like a film at AFF2025: emotions, confessions, and lessons on how authentic cinema is born

How is authentic cinema born? Does it take skill, talent, or inspiration? How difficult is it to film the most harrowing moments in the life of someone you care about, and what kind of strength does it take to keep your hands from trembling behind the camera? How can you possibly answer the simple question “how did you get the idea for this film?” when there was no “idea” to begin with, only overwhelming emotion and direct participation in life as it unfolds, with both mind and soul?

One of the most moving and shattering films of the fifth day of the festival was The Fable of the Turtle and the Flower(Uruguay, 2025), screened in the presence of its director, Carolina Campo Lupo. The film shows, with neither tenderness nor restraint, how a mother suffering from terminal cancer prepares her children for life after her passing. During the post-screening Q&a...