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La Canícula

Ciro cares for a crumbling estate full of stray dogs, where outsiders awaken hidden desires.

synopsis

Ciro, a middle-aged man, lives confined to his childhood estate with his sister Dolores and the women who raised them, helmed by their mother Magnolia. Their lives follow a fragile routine of silence, duty, and unspoken pacts. Ciro hides his homosexuality, quietly supported by Dolores. Their order is disrupted by the return of Peregrina, a long-lost aunt, who unsettles the household and suggests selling the house. Around the estate appears Facundo, a young treasure hunter, whose presence awakens something in Ciro. As he grows close to Facundo, Ciro begins to explore the boundaries of his sexuality. Meanwhile, Inés, struggling with dementia, becomes obsessed with a mongrel dog she believes is her missing husband. Amid the stray dogs, whispers of treasure, and the pull of a life beyond the estate, Ciro must confront long-suppressed desires and decide whether to remain bound to duty or embrace a truth he has always hidden.

Director’statement

La Canícula, my first feature, began during a decade-long struggle with agoraphobia, when I was confined to caring for my grandmother. In quiet moments, she shared stories of her youth, giving me comfort and a sense of safety. Growing up as the only son in a household of women, I learned the strength, vulnerability, and resilience carried across generations, along with their traumas – absent fathers, societal judgment, and profound loneliness. Like Ciro, the protagonist, I navigated desire and secrecy as a gay boy, learning about care, intimacy, and domestic life. La Canícula is my attempt to honour the women who raised me, confront inherited suffering, and explore identity, repression, and awakening through fable and memory – creating a personal and universal story rooted in imagination, family, and longing.

TFL PROGRAMME:
FeatureLab 2025

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