CHILDREN

Jaroslav Vojtek’s Children explores the often uneasy bonds between children and their parents through four powerful stories. The first segment, Son, paints a couple on the verge of a breakdown as they face the impossible task of communicating with their autistic child. Marathon transports us to a prison, where we meet an inmate who hasn’t heard from his wife or son for several months. Canari examines the theme of separation as a young child suffers the brutality of his deadbeat stepfather. And in Father, the fourth and final tale, a woman going through a divorce attempts to reconcile with her dying father. Rooted in documentary (The Border (2009) won several international film festival awards), the Slovakian director’s work is a deeply authentic and often poetic treatment of the fragility of human relationships in an era where family structure is steadily eroding. Winner of best screenplay at the Beijing International Film Festival, Children draws strength from the personal observations of its director, who portrays with startling precision a group of characters imprisoned in their own distress.