Estación Catorce

Not a single train stops at Estación Catorce (Station 14), in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, even though freight trains rumble by every day on the railroad that divides the neighbourhood in two. In addition, there is little activity in the district itself. For the most part, the residents have difficulty making ends meet. Little Luis (Gael Vázquez), 7 years old, lives there with his parents, brothers, sister, and grandmother. Luis regularly has to flee from his school and take shelter at home when a column of black cars from some drug cartel stops in the village to sow death and destruction. But one day, when the criminals have disappeared again, father Manuel (José Antonio Becerril ) sees his chance and enlists Luis to help with the looting of a well-to-do murdered couple’s house…

As directed by Diana Cardozo, ‘Estación Catorce’ gradually immerses us in the world of Luis, using his ignorance and curiosity to ask questions not only about the upbringing of children, but above all about how we expect children to behave perfectly when the adults around them do the opposite. In delineating the close relationship between a father who persists in offering what he thinks is best for his son, Cardozo’s ‘charming and nuanced film’ (The Film Verdict) is in many ways reminiscent of Vittorio de Sica's immortal Italian Neorealist classic ‘Bicycle Thieves’, from 1948