Academy award contender ‘Birthday Boy’ screened at IFFI 53

#IFFIWood, 25 November 2022

Candles, cake, light and friends… What else one could ask for on his birthday? Jimmy celebrates his 45^th birthday at the beach house with his friends. Everything turns upside down when he confesses that he is planning to kill himself after the cake cutting.

Birthday boy (Cumpleañero) (2022) is a Panamian thriller movie directed by Arturo Montenegro. While talking about his movie at ‘Table talks’ conducted during 53^rd International Film Festival of India, Goa, Arturo Montenegro mentioned about the high suicidal rates in the world. “Birthday boy is a movie that talks about friendship. There is only present and not to worry about the future”, Arturo told the audience.

The movie’s writer and producer Andry J Barrientos was also present in the table talks. He told, “Idea about the theme of the movie originated during the pandemic times. We were talking about the death at large”. The film talks about Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis(ALS) which the protagonist was diagnosed with. “The film is also a conversation about ALS which was not touched upon earlier”, director added. Talking about the disease, he said “Not able to communicate is very suffocating and depressing”.

The movie is also a contender for academy awards this year. “It is a beautiful thing to represent your country. You feel that you are carrying the flag”, remarked Arturo Montenegro. “Birthday boy is a celebration of life. Our movie is very personal and talks about something like birth and death. It depicts the circle of life”, the director further mentioned.