Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle is exactly the quirky, picaresque tale that that it purports to be from its title—but is also so much more. Actor Gustavo Salmerón gives us this rollicking portrait of his delightfully eccentric family and its spirited matriarch, Julita, as the family confronts, in its own idiosyncratic ways, such serious issues as downsizing in the wake of the 2008 economic downturn, mortality, and the never-ending battle against decades of accumulated family heirlooms (i.e. junk). Through his cheeky but heartfelt approach, Salmerón offers a refreshing take on the personal documentary, one that is both very particular to this set of characters and their cultural milieu, but also universally relatable in the ways that all well-told family stories are. The film is a celebratory look at a larger-than-life family and how their love for each other wins out no matter what hardships come their way.
Director Biography
Spanish actor, writer and director Gustavo Salmerón was born on August 27th, 1970. Since the 90s, he has acted in a diverse range of television and film, moving to feature-filmmaking with Desaliñada (’01) and The Explanation (’05).
Press
"A celebration of the life of an extraordinary woman with whom most viewers will probably also have fallen in love by the time the credits roll." - Hollywood Reporter
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