The Mirror and the Window

Filmmaker Diego Gutiérrez knows that he is soon to lose two loved ones: his mother Gina Coppe and his best friend Danniel Danniel. Both ask him to film them during this final phase of their lives—Gina in her apartment in Mexico City, Danniel in a Dutch restaurant where he feels at home. What stories do they want to leave behind? As a filmmaker, Danniel knows that you have to give the viewer a denouement: he holds a photo of a young child up to the camera at the beginning of his story and reveals at the end why it is crucial to him. Gina brings up the love of her life—and it isn’t Diego’s father. Gutiérrez visualizes the journey they are each taking as a voyage to Antarctica, the continent without a trace of human intervention that can only be reached via stormy seas. Along this journey, the director observes, “I have the feeling that I’m filming two burning candles, and they’re asking me to go on filming them even when the flame stops burning.” (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)