Mientras somos
2014 · 12m · España
Directed by Jacobo Atienza
Genres: coming-of-age, drama, experimental
Tones: contemplative, surreal, tender
A synthesis, a mini film, that shows how adults manipulate and take control of reality, highlighting the strength of children over the difficulties of life, and putting in evidence how chance can influence individual destiny.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
The premise reads like therapy-speak—adults manipulate, children endure, chance wins—but Atienza actually dodges the sermon; the surrealism keeps it from settling into easy wisdom, which is the only reason this doesn't feel like a TED talk.
A formally restless piece that borrows from European art cinema's playbook (Koreeda's spatial delicacy, a touch of Haneke's cool observation) but never quite commits to its own visual argument, leaving the relationship between form and meaning pleasantly unresolved.
The film hangs on a single structural choice—intercutting children's unguarded moments with adults' controlling gestures—and it works precisely because Atienza trusts the audience to feel the rhythm rather than explain it, letting that tension do all the thematic work on a 12-minute budget.