The initial scenario is Dante Alighieri School, a private all-levels school in Córdoba, capital of Cordoba province, 700km from Buenos Aires. The characters are Juancho, his best friend Valen and their common friend Camila. We see students at school doing the usual; making and unmaking friendships and relations, trying to fit in some group or other. We don't see their classes, professors or any authority figure.
Juancho, Valen and Camila decide to embark on a backpacking/camping trip in search of a mysterious community in the wilderness of the province. They shoulder their backpacks, disconnect their cellphones to avoid being tracked and set out. They walk, talk and have a good time away from their duties and families (which we never get to know). They decide to take as a base for their search a summer house obviously familiar to Juancho and Valen; it is winter, so the house sits empty. They have only very vague directions, and the resuming of the quest is postponed time and again. They are approached by a neighbor, Pilar, grandmother of Santi, a boy that was an acquaintance of Valen. This reveals that Valen spent summers there (Pilar uses the feminine gender to address Valen, which connects with other hints). Pilar's stories quicken their interest in the elusive community; her daughter was a member for years. She gives the teenagers road guidance which they take warily, as it differs from the directions they "know."
This is it. There is no plot to speak of. For most of the movie we witness long conversations among the friends, rambling directionless and and unfocused as in real life. The final effect is a voyeuristic view into the life of strangers that I found fascinating. Cinematography does justice to winter landscapes and somber interiors, and music is unobtrusive.
In 2014, the Dante Alighieri School invited director Rosendo Ruiz to hold a film workshop with high school students, teachers and staff as participants and the goal of filming a full-fledged film. This movie is the result. The script was written in collaboration with students. The film is strengthened by the easy, verbal chemistry among the three friends. Acting is good all around, perhaps with some rough edges and a bit of staginess here and there. The story is touching and the ending somewhat unexpected. As a bonus, you get to hear the Spanish spoken in Córdoba province, with an almost musical singsong absent in Buenos Aires speech.