1. At the heart of this is a family struggling and a father desperate to provide for them, how much do you feel this will resonate with families in Columbia and across the world?

I’ve seen it resonate with audiences all over the world. After all, whether they’re economic or emotional, all families go through struggles at some point. Families are very complex systems in continuous tension, both between family members and between the family and the rest of society. We’ve all been a kid witnessing their parents trying really hard at making a family work. 

2. Was the story based on anyone you know?The initial impulse came from recurrent childhood memories. I had a similar family configuration and went to some trips similar to that of Todo Incluido. However, I only see this as a point of entry: I was not interested in creating an autobiographical film for the sake of it. I believe entering a project through an extremely personal bond allows for the creation of something that in its specificity, in its honesty, ends up speaking with truth to a collective. That’s why the project evolved in such a way that it ended up addressing those topics that have been the subject of my films: the complicated relationship of the Bogotá upper-class with money and corruption, its willingness to keep power at all costs, and the way this deeply rooted social mandate ends up penetrating and tensing the most intimate relationships.

3. How did you react to the news that the film qualified for Academy Award consideration?

We qualified through a Jury Award in Aspen Shortsfest. It was the perfect ending to what has probably been my favorite festival experience (can’t beat the combo of watching the best shorts of the year in the afternoons while snowboarding in the mornings). In the end, what’s exciting about this kind of awards is that they give your work more visibility, making your road to your next movie more possible. 

4. If you developed this into a feature would the ending stay the same as the short film?

I’m writing a feature film that started as an attempt to follow a similar type of family at another point of their lives. The script has evolved so much that it’s a completely different project from the short by now. 

5. How important is it to see social issues from the eyes of children?

Similar issues (money laundering or anything related to dirty money and narcotraffic) have been explored thoroughly in the popular representation of Colombian society. However, the most common angle has been that of the spectacular tales of drug lords. I wanted to explore how these issues end up penetrating those layers of society where normal families are just struggling to make ends meet. Even though Fer doesn’t really understand the implications and particularities of what’s going on, he feels the effect of those tensions, deep in his gut, as he experiences the sudden risk of losing the woman that has become a new mother to him. He also lives this in the middle of a sensorial trip to a place that looks nothing like his home. My goal was not to give a clearer picture to the audience, but to let them experience that emotional ride with him.