Familia Tortuga

The starting point for this graduation film was the feeling of loss that overcame the director when his grandmother died. He did not just lose his grandma, but also the central focus of his family. In modern Mexico, traditional family bonds are endangered. Where once every birthday or feast day was a reason to gather in large numbers, social and economic changes mean that family members increasingly live separated from each other.
In Turtle Family , the mother of a family has died. The handicapped Uncle Manuel takes over everyday care for his brother-in-law and adolescent nephew and niece. They have to find a new way to interact with each other. When a letter arrives for the dead mother, it becomes clear that this won’t be easy.
Castro chooses an agile camera and dynamic schnitts, which intensifies the relationships in the family, yet primarily also allows us to feel how they continuously circle round each other. Each comes to terms with his sorrow in a different way, in an isolation that makes the director almost an intruder. This makes Turtle Family not just the portrayal of a process of mourning, but also a quiet and passionate plea for real intimacy and bonding. A sensitive debut. (GT)