A short film for the Spanish class: Cuerdas

Pedro Solís is an animation film director, scriptwriter and producer from Spain. In 2010 he won the Goya Award for the best animation short film, La Bruxa. The Goya Awards recognize the best Spanish and Latin American films every year. He is also the producer of the animated film Tad, the last explorer. In 2014 he won the Goya again for his very personal animated short film, Cuerdas (Ropes).

Cuerdas tells us the story of a young child who suffers cerebral palsy many years ago in Spain. The child cannot move and is always in his wheelchair. At that time children who suffered this condition were either not given the right treatment or did not have access to the right therapies. The main character in this short film is sent to an orphanage where Maria, a young girl, starts spending time with him and taking care of him. Maria will use "cuerdas", ropes, to help him move and play games. Their bond and friendship grows stronger and Maria dedicates more of her free time to be with the new student.When Maria becomes a teacher for children with severe disabilities many years later, she still wears a rope around her wrist in memory of her friend. 

CUERDAS trailer from lafiestapc on Vimeo.

There is a short dedication at the end of the film: "A mi hija Alejandra, gracias por inspirarme esta historia. A mi hijo Nicolás, ojalá nunca me hubieses inspirado esta historia." We discover then that the story in the short film is inspired by the director's children. Nicolas, who was born with cerebral palsy, was always supported and taken care of by Alejandra, his sister. The real story is explained in this video.

The short film has an official website where we can learn further details about the film, its production, where to buy it, and also about the book "Cuerdas" where we can get a different perspective of the story. Furthermore, fifteen per cent of the book sales will go to the association where the real Nicolás goes to receive his treatment.

Cuerdas is a good choice to work in the Spanish class and offer the opportunity of creating multiple activities. I have transcribed the script and it is available for download here: Guion. If you use the script, please provide me with credit to this blog. Thank you.