Global Lens 2007 is a monthly film series created to promote cross-cultural understanding through the universal language of cinema during a time of great change throughout the world.

The Sacred Family (La Sagrada Familia)
Directed by Sebastián Campos
In Spanish with English subtitles
Chile, 2005, 99 minutes

Marco is a college student studying to be an architect, like his father, who designed the family home on a cliff above the beach. But his father little respect for his son's designs, or his inspiration: the extravagant Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi and his greatest work, the Sagrada Familia, the spectacular unfinished church in Barcelona. Marco's mother is sympathetic to both men but also possessed by an obscure allegiance to social protocol and maintaining a veneer of civility between the two; without her presence, father and son would be at war. But when she must leave unexpectedly to attend to a family emergency during Marco's visit home for Easter, the tension between father and son quickly reveals itself via a competition for the attention of Sofia, Marco's strangely seductive girlfriend from college, threatening the deepest connections between friends, lovers, and even something so sacred as family.

 “Sebastián Campos blends hand-held camerawork and improvised dialogue from an impressive ensemble to create a raw, incisive portrait of a family teetering on the edge of chaos.”
-Miami International Film Festival,

“Shot in just three days (the same period as shown onscreen), and largely improvised, this low-budget feature stands head and shoulders above other variations on much the same, ‘successful family in crisis’ theme – distinguished by its uniformly excellent ensemble cast, its note-perfect characterizations (in particular, Marco Jr’s increasingly disoriented mother), its semi-documentary aesthetic, and some razor-sharp dialogue. An auspicious debut, from a writer-director to watch.”
-Edinburgh International Film Festival,

2005 Titre Prix for Distribution; Best Fiction Feature Film, INTERNATIONAL FILM & TELEVISION FESTIVAL CINEMA TOUT ECRAN (Switzerland)

Best Fiction Feature Film; Distribution Award, L’ALTERNATIVE OF BARCELONA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (Spain)