Daniel Valle Robles: Afstudeerfilm klaar!

Synopsis: A Dutchman, adopted as a child, emigrates to Guatemala, the country of his birth, in search of a balance between two cultures. He was born in Guatemala but does not belong there. He grew up in the Netherlands but does not belong here either.

Project title: La piel donde vivo

Genre: documentary

Format: HD 16:9

Length: 24 min

Locations: The Netherlands, Guatemala

Language: Dutch, Spanish

Subtitles: English, Spanish, Dutch

Director: Daniel Valle Robles

La piel donde vivo (The skin in which I live)

‘La piel donde vivo’ (The skin in which I live) tells the story of a 29-year-old Dutchman, Jeroen Lans, who was adopted in Guatemala when he was two years old. He grew up in rural Gelderland.

In his teens, when he began to have problems getting into discotheques, and heard people saying things like, “Hey, you, go back to your own country”, he started thinking more and more about his own identity. He realised that he was different. His curiosity grew about that far away country, Guatemale, where he was born José Roberto.

In the Netherlands, Jeroen restores windmills and lives with his parents on their farm. But in spite of a good job, friends and family close by and an assurance of prosperity in his life, he feels that there is something missing; something is calling him to go back to Guatemala.

Jeroen José decides to emigrate to the country he left as a small, adopted boy and to try and build up a life for himself there.

He was born in Guatemala but he doesn’t belong there. He grew up in the Netherlands but he doesn’t belong here either. How will he find the balance between the two cultures; between the country of his birth and the country he grew up in; between his roots and his upbringing; between Jeroen and José?

Motivation

Culture clashes and migration are the fuel for my work. The fact that I myself come from two cultures is something that I definitely want to use in my work. I feel drawn to being the bridge between those two cultures.

The similarity between José and me is that we are both in search of a life that is a balance between two cultures. We are looking for a way of keeping the link with the past open because that gives us our identity; he, over there in Guatemala, with his Dutch background and myself, here in the Netherlands, with my Guatemalan background.

Goal

The most important goal is that the viewer understands why the main character decides to emigrate. Another goal is that the documentary encourages discussion on such topics as migration.

Guatevision interview