Orgullo nacional
2016 · 11m · España
Directed by Víctor Ruiz Junquera
Genres: coming-of-age, historical, sports
Tones: contemplative, tender
In 1960, the Vuelta a España is about to pass through Sacristán with champion cyclist Alberto Indiana, and Federico will finally see his idol up close — perhaps too close.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Everyone expects a coming-of-age story about hero worship to go sentimental, but Ruiz Junquera's restraint—letting the frame do the emotional work instead of the script—is refreshingly unsentimental without being cold about it.
The film operates within a classical Spanish sports cinema tradition while executing a subtle formal choice: the camera never forces intimacy between Federico and Indiana, maintaining painterly distance that transforms what could be maudlin into something genuinely contemplative and architecturally precise.
The entire film hinges on one decision—to stage the climactic encounter in long shot rather than close-up—which reframes the whole project from personal epiphany into something about the gap between myth and flesh, all on a modest budget and a single location.