A DAY AT "CRUZ DE MAYO" SCHOOL

I am a professional painter and filmmaker but, above everything else, I am a mother. One of the children who appears in the film is my child.
When we are expecting a child, the main concern that all women have is that he or she may be healthy. Sometimes our desire is not fulfilled.
When I knew that Gabriel had been born with a serious disability, I thought that I just could not stay home feeling sorry for myself. My first duty as a mother was to make my child happy. I knew that I had to be happy in order to make him happy.
This is my general attitude towards life and is also the spirit of my documentary.
It is true that some consider disability as a tragedy and that it can indeed cause great suffering, frustration, uncertainty and other negative and painful feelings, besides endless difficulties in our everyday life. And yet, sometimes it is also possible to accept reality and live to the fullest, focusing on the positive aspects of life. Many people who live with a disability, be it their own or that of a loved one, prefer to fight for social justice rather than inspire pity.
My documentary invites the viewer to enter the small world in which many children with various types of disabilities live daily. Cruz de Mayo is a state school which does not have many resources, but counts with committed professionals who, through love, imagination and good will, have turned the school into a true home, where children are happy to go. Traditional subjects like history of mathematics are less important that other cultural aspects such as art, crafts, agriculture and the everyday practical tasks which may be simple but are equally important.
This documentary is not didactic; it does not give the viewer a great deal of explanations or offers a dramatic vision of what is like to live with a disability. It simply invites viewers to enter that small world and observe, in an objective and direct way, what the main characters do and how they live their lives, and then draw their own conclusions.
The children and teenagers who I’m inviting you to meet are my friends. I have spent wonderful moments among them, in feasts, parties, trips, walks, etc. Every week we have a workshop which I designed especially for them seven years ago.
When I look at them, I do not see a group of children with a disability. I see Eva, Juan, Lorena, Jaime, Gabriel, Andrés, María, David. They are simply children, each of them with their own personality. They can be happy, serious, obedient, rebellious, hard-working, lazy, calmed, naughty… Those who do not know them, tend to see the disability first and then see the person. Once you know them closely, the disability goes on to the background.
This is the main idea that I have wished to express and share in my film.