Menh-Wai Trinh

Rodrigo returns to his childhood home of Salamanca after a four-decade absence and a career as a guerrilla in Latin America, a secret agent in the Eastern Bloc and an official for an international agency. While Rodrigo may have attempted to put his past life behind him, the memory of his now deceased mother and his old-world family returns to haunt him. In an old city dominated by the weight of tradition, Rodrigo discovers a daughter about whose existence he had never known, as well as a grand-daughter, the enigmatic and beautiful Octavia. A rebellious teenager, Octavia dismisses her grandfather's old politics, possessing her own sense of what freedom means. Patino's film is a poetic, assured contemplation on the pain of returning somewhere you never really left and the accompanying ironies of a man obsessed with history who cannot face his own.

Veteran actor Pablo Thevenet has no luck: His daughter has been murdered, his wife has left him, he finds no job and his agent wants to leave him - current directors will never give him a role. He hates current talentless stars on TV talk shows. Suddenly, he finds some job - as a living sculpture in a whore house working for a Mr. Reficul and his transsexual assistant Dora Grizzel. Pablo becomes an artistic murderer, searching for those he thinks responsible of his current state. He also meets job partner Tic-Tac, an ex-prostitute who will sympathize with Pablo. Pablo also attracts the attention of unusual producer Ambrose Fuch, who wants him to act and direct movies. Everybody seems to have something to hide - including serial killer Pablo.