Casa Chica
Lau Charles · Mexico · 2025 · 26 min
SHORTS COMPETITION · IDENTITY
The term "casa chica" (small house) refers to a form of concubinage in Mexican society, involving a secondary family—comprising a wife and children—that some married men maintain separately from their primary family, known as the "casa grande" (big house). This is the story of two siblings: 11-year-old Quique and 5-year-old Valentina. After their parents separate, they move into a tiny apartment under their mother’s care. On their first Sunday with their father, he introduces them to his "new family," where the siblings discover that their half-sister is the same age as Valentina. Through a cinematographic diptych, we experience their emotions and perspectives, piecing together the director's fragmented memories, culminating in a revealing image of her real family 25 years later.
Fiction, Hybrid · Drama · 15+
Language: Spanish
Themes: Family, divorce, children
Screenplay: Lau Charles
Producer: Luna Martínez Montero
Cinematographer: Ángel Jara Taboada
Editor: Santiago Zermeño
Cast: Mauro Guzmán, Katherine Bernal, Daniela Arroio, Raúl Briones
Director's Statement
Casa Chica began as a personal process to revisit a wound from my childhood through the lens of my nuclear family. Gradually, we realized that this story resonates with countless Mexican families and, through the journey of the short film, we have witnessed that it also touches many families around the world. In a world where paternal abandonment continues to be one of the central issues affecting family structures, Casa Chica seeks to question, embrace, and look —without condescension— at the children who grew up in environments where adult decisions disrupted their spaces and their development: children who seek alliances in order to survive. — Lau Charles
