Primary school teacher Natalio (Diego Velázquez) enjoys a quiet life in a small town, where he passionately educates his students and is very popular. Focused on the well-being of his students, Natalio begins to help Miguel (Valentin Mayor Borzone), a young boy who is being bullied, outside of school. He is also responsible for looking after his mother, whom he lives with. Natalio’s world is turned upside down with the arrival of Juani (Ezequiel Tronconi), an openly gay man that he has a past connection with, which causes the people of the town to talk and speculate about the nature of their relationship.
‘The Teacher’ is a short film that is incredibly subtle. Inspired by an experience from the life of writer Cristina Tamagnini, the film is an exploration of what life in a small town can be like. Natalio is happily living his life and minding his own business, but Juani’s unexpected arrival quickly starts to unravel the life Natalio has made for himself. Despite being popular at the school, with his colleagues and his students, the gossip mill starts to turn the town against him when they suspect he might be a gay man.
Natalio doesn’t rush to squash the rumours or confirm them, but his closeness to Juani gets the town talking very quickly. It doesn’t help that Juani refuses to hide his sexuality, leaving no one in any doubt that he’s gay. As the film progresses, the parents of Natalio’s students begin to lodge complaints against him based on what they think they know. That makes Natalio’s ambitions of staging ‘The Little Prince’ with his students all the more difficult as the town’s attention turns onto him.
Diego Velázquez’s performance really drives the film. He plays Natalio with an endearing quiet dignity and that makes you root for him. You feel the unfairness of the situation he finds himself in, and it’s shocking that a person can be hounded out of a job they love, and are good at, just because people can’t get past his sexuality. The small mindedness of the town’s people is sadly all-too familiar but Velázquez ensures that Natalio never becomes a victim.
‘The Teacher’ is a delicately handled film that thrives in its subtlety. Nothing here is sensationalised and it feels all too real a scenario. We may have moved on, for the most part, as a world when it comes to attitudes around homosexuality but there are plenty of corners of the world where acceptance still hasn’t arrived. What’s perhaps the most important thing to take away from this film is that Natalio has to battle to keep his life together thanks to rumours. In an age where you can say anything about anyone with little to no consequence, it’s quite a sobering story about how harmful words can really be.
Cast: Diego Velázquez, Ezequiel Tronconi, Valentin Mayor Borzone, Ana Katz Directors: Julian Dabien & Cristina Tamagnini Writer: Cristina Tamagnini Certificate: 15 Duration: 70 mins Released by: NQV Media Release date: 11th March 2024 Buy ‘The Teacher’ now
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