CFF: Sleepless City
PG 97 mins
PG 97 mins
Spain, France, 2025, 97 mins.
DIRECTOR: Guillermo Galoe
WITH: Antonio "Toni" Fernández Gabarre, Bilal Sedraoui, Jesús "Chule" Fernández Silva, Felisa Romero Molina, Pura Salazar, Francisca Jiménez
In La Cañada Real, Europe’s largest shanty town, 13-year-old Toni (Antonio Fernández Gabarre) lives with his family as their home faces imminent demolition. His grandfather, Chule (Jesús Fernández Silva), refuses the municipality’s housing offer and, without telling Toni, sells the family dog to pay off a debt. As demolition draws near, Toni sets out to reclaim his beloved pet. With a documentary-style aesthetic and a cast of non-professional actors from La Cañada Real, Guillermo Galoe’s feature debut delivers a raw, intimate and urgent portrait of marginalized life on the edge of modern Europe—capturing the tensions between tradition, survival and the fragile bonds of family. A tender coming-of-age story set within Madrid’s Roma community.
The Cambridge Film Festival is presented by the Cambridge Film Trust, a registered charity with a mission to foster film culture and education for the benefit of the public, in Cambridge, the Eastern region, and throughout the UK.