Private Project

This house no longer shelters us

A young filmmaker explores his parents' crumbling relationship through old footage, poems and songs, as they prepare for the sale of their old family house in Guatire and their imminent separation.

  • Fernando Alva
    Director
  • Fernando Alva
    Writer
  • Fernando Alva
    Producer
  • Blanca Rosa Silva
    Key Cast
  • Cristóbal José Alva Ramírez
    Key Cast
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Esta casa ya no nos alberga
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Documentary, Drama, Family
  • Runtime:
    21 minutes 45 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 14, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    0 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
  • Country of Filming:
    Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
  • Language:
    Spanish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - National Film School of Venezuela
  • CARACASDOC: International Documentary Film Festival
    Caracas
    Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
    March 25, 2023
    National Premiere
    Official Selection, National Short-Film / Audience Award
Director Biography - Fernando Alva

Escritor, productor y director de cine venezolano, nacido en el año 2000 en la ciudad de Caracas. Bachiller graduado en el año 2017, cursó el Taller Intensivo de Formación de la Escuela de Medios y Producción Audiovisual (EMPA) de Ávila Tvé, donde egresó como Realizador Audiovisual. En el 2019 recibió una beca de estudios para cursar la carrera en Realización Cinematográfica de la Escuela Nacional de Cine de Venezuela, donde desarrolló sus cortometrajes “Amá” (2019) y “Las Moscas” (2020), seleccionados en distintas muestras y festivales. Actualmente se encuentra trabajando en la post-producción de su tesis para el 6to semestre de la carrera y trabaja paralelamente en la ruta de festivales de sus más recientes cortometrajes “La Lucha” (2023) y “Esta casa ya no nos alberga” (2023).

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Venezuelan writer, producer and film director, born in 2000 in the city of Caracas. He graduated with a high school degree in 2017, and attended the Intensive Training Workshop at the School of Media and Audiovisual Production (EMPA) of Ávila Tv, where he graduated as an Audiovisual Producer. In 2019 he received a scholarship to study Filmmaking at the National Film School of Venezuela, where he developed his short-films "Amá" (2019) and "Las Moscas" (2020), selected in different exhibitions and festivals. He is currently working on the post-production of his thesis for the 6th semester of the career and is working in parallel on the festival route of his most recent short-films "La Lucha" (2023) and "Esta casa ya no nos alberga" (2023).

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Director Statement

Crecí oyendo cantar a mi padre, escuchando aquellos poemas que escribía entre el papel de su libreta y el Windows XP de su antigua computadora. Crecí viendo trabajar a mi madre, observando cómo poco a poco sus manos se agrietaban del esfuerzo que implicaba cuidar de su casa y sacar adelante a sus hijos. Crecí viendo los videos y las fotografías de un tiempo en el que solían amarse profundamente, pero nunca los vi amarse. Asumí que la única forma de poder comprender lo que mi familia es actualmente, sería haciendo una búsqueda en el pasado de mis padres a través de la poesía, los vídeos y los recuerdos de un amor que compartieron en su juventud, pero que ya no podían seguir manteniendo a base de versos y canciones.

Este documental es un registro de mi hogar, con sus encuentros y desencuentros, a través de la nostalgia que evocan las palabras, los versos y las heridas de mis padres, esperando que me acerquen a una idea de lo que fuimos tiempo atrás, para así comprender esto que tratamos de llamar “familia”.

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I grew up listening to my father sing, hearing those poems he wrote between the paper of his notebook and the Windows XP of his old computer. I grew up watching my mother work, noticing how her hands crack day after day from the effort of taking care of her house and raising her children. I grew up watching videos and photographs of a time when they used to love each other profoundly, but I never saw that love with my own eyes. I felt that the only way I could understand what my family is today, would be to search in my parents' past through the poetry, the videos and the memories of a love they shared in their youth, but could no longer sustain anymore.

This documentary is a record of my home, with its encounters and misunderstandings, through the nostalgia evoked by the words, verses and wounds of my parents, hoping to bring me closer to an idea of what we were some time ago, in order to understand what we try to call "family".