Simon of the Mountain / Simón de la montaña
Twenty-one-year-old Simón (Lorenzo Ferro in a breakthrough performance) is a bit of a loner. One day, he spontaneously joins a group of disabled young people on a windswept mountainside. They immediately accept the non-disabled Simón into their ranks and he becomes friends with Pehuen. Together, they navigate a world not designed for them, inventing their own rules for love and happiness.
Simón accepts Pehuen's help to obtain an official disability card, which would enable him to stay with the group and receive regular state aid. But for this, Simón must undergo a psychiatric assessment by the authorities. In the eyes of his concerned mother, what he is becoming is stubborn, uncooperative.. an 'idiot' who imitates the behavioural patterns of his new friends. Is his reinvention sincere? Is Simón a fake? Is the new Simón who he truly was all along?
Federico Luis’s astonishing, thought-provoking film was crowned in Cannes Film Festival with the Critics Week's Best Film award.
Illuminate is supported by the HSE