The Farewell

After visiting a closed mine, an elderly former miner named Pablo Fabelo sets off on an obsessive search for his lost medals and diplomas. The life he is living at home with his daughter and grandsons doesn’t offer him enough distractions to give up this odyssey into the past. We watch as he wiles away his time playing cards with his grandson, smoking a cigar and resting below a white, billowing mosquito net. His toothless mouth and the tarnished, wrinkled skin of his thin, bare upper body pay living testament to years gone by. All around him, life is in full flow. The carefree cries and laughter of his grandsons form a stark contrast to the emptiness that fills his days. When his search for the lost papers comes to nothing, he calls on his daughter to help. It turns out she is unable to offer him the support he needs, so he leaves the house, shuffling and disillusioned. An unassuming look into the life of an old man, who against his better judgment goes in search of the past. The careful camerawork results in images of great photographic quality. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)