Back
Section: International competition of feature films for youth
Behaviour (2014)
Eleven-year-old Chala lives with his addict mother Sonia. In order to provide for the two of them, he raises carrier pigeons and trains fighting dogs with a man who may or may not be his biological father. School provides a stabilizing force in Chala's life, thanks to his close relationship with his spirited sixty-something teacher, Carmela. When the boy is sent off to live in a "re-education facility" and Carmela mounts a campaign to have him released, she becomes the target of a witch hunt spearheaded by a school board administrator who regards Carmela's permissive beliefs as incongruent with the new Cuba. But the idealistic, strong-willed woman remains defiant and manages to recruit allies from amongst her fellow teachers, leading to a conflict in which one boy's future reflects the systemic dynamics of contemporary Cuba.
| Country | Cuba |
|---|---|
| Year | 2014 |
| Duration | 109 min |
| Rating | 14 |
| Language | Spanish |
| Subtitle | English, Czech |
| Directed by | Ernesto Daranas |
| Screenplay | Ernesto Daranas |
| Director of Photography | Alejandro Pérez |
| Music | Juan Antonio Leyva, Magda Rosa Galbán |
| Edited by | Pedro Suárez |
| Contact | Latido Films |
Biography
Ernesto Daranas (1961) is a director and screenwriter from Cuba. He graduated from education and geography. He's worked for radio and TV. He has directed documentaries as well as live-action films. He made his debut with the full-length film Fallen Gods (Los dioses rotos, 2008). Before that he had made, e.g. the short documentary The Last Bagpipers in Havana (Los últimos gaiteiros de la Habana, 2004) and the live-action film Life in Pink (¿La Vida en Rosa?, 2004). The drama Behavior (Conducta, 2014) is his second feature film.