Daniel turned to his talent and to fantasy. Dementia would not be an obstacle—it would become part of that dialogue and that unfinished story with his father is brought back to “reality”.
Daniel Eduvijes Carrera never ceases to amaze. Some time ago, his short film El Paisa won awards at ‘every’ festival it entered, including one of the most prestigious—Cannes. There, at the Cannes 2024 Film Festival it won the Jury Award for Best LGBTQ+ Short Film. The film was showcased at the festival in the Emerging Filmmakers Showcase.
Back then, I had the opportunity to interview Dani, as I respectfully call him, acknowledging his talent and the humility he has maintained throughout his career. During those conversations, this emerging director was enjoying the success of El Paisa, a film that served as a tribute to his mother and to the time when a teenage boy embraced his sexuality without shame. But another story was also weighing on his mind—one about his relationship with his father and the impossible conversation between them, hindered by his father’s dementia. If it had been possible, he would have wanted to say to him, “You never accepted my identity (queer)” and remind him of the violent nature of their relationship that filled him with constant fear.
What to do?
Daniel turned to his talent and to fantasy. Dementia would not be an obstacle—it would become part of that dialogue and that unfinished story with his father. He filmed Fiat Lux 5000, where, through a device placed on the head, Leonides (the father) is brought back to “reality”—a character who had been lost in that black hole do to dementia.
“I’ve always thought, if you want to do something, it has to be something that matters to you, something relevant, something that will last a long time,” he adds.
This story becomes, through the film’s narration and Daniel himself, not only a story but a testimony.
“It’s a very personal story,” says Eduvijes Carrera. “If El Paisa is a tribute to my mother, Fiat is a tribute to my sister and my father.”
Dani has been recognized as one of the most powerful new voices in the film world, and rightly so—his high standards are evident in his productions.
“I’ve always thought, if you want to do something, it has to be something that matters to you, something relevant, something that will last a long time,” he adds.
For Dani, Fiat Lux 5000 fulfills this mission. It addresses an issue that affects not just Latinos, but society as a whole—dementia. Moreover, it’s a disease that very few understand, and even fewer can define.
“During the first screenings, people have approached me to talk about their relatives who have dementia and how they connected with the story. That, to me, is already a success,” he says.
Dani had to turn to ‘fantasy’ to face a story that still hasn’t found closure.
“This story isn’t over. My father is at home, my mother is with him, and my sister is caring for him. I questioned how I could face this reality, how I could have that conversation with my father who was already suffering from dementia, how I could resolve the issues I still have, how to bring him back and tell him that I’m here,” he adds.
“I relive many parts of the story, especially when Jonathan (the son caring for the father) keeps telling him it’s time to sleep, when he becomes violent and reminds him of the fear he used to feel. But when writing the story, I didn’t want it to feel like a soap opera—I wanted to portray a human being, with problems similar to those many others face. I wanted, from my current place in life, to create a kind of bonding between father and son. To reflect his humanity, but also to have the ability to tell him, ‘You were always against my identity,’” he adds.
For Dani, this story has helped close a chapter in his life—to heal, to find peace. It’s not about revenge.
“We’ve lived through very difficult times, a homophobic world that must be confronted. I approached this narrative through my work on this film. And it’s also a tribute to the Latino community. An important part that unfortunately didn’t make it into the final version of the film was a scene where Jonathan tells his partner that Latinos don’t put their parents in nursing homes—they stay home with them,” he says.
Daniel Eduvijes Carrera has begun to present Fiat Lux 5000 at special screenings. In one of them, he was nominated in the Best Director category at the Mexican American Film and Television Festival, where the film’s lead actor, Francisco Javier Gomez Huerta, won the award for Best Actor.
Without a doubt, the story of this film is just beginning, and many more accolades are sure to come.
