El reino de dios
The Realm of God
Claudia Sainte-Luce
This film will also be available online on our VoD platform from April 18 to April 30, 2023. Please note: This film will only be available in Germany.
Language VoD platform: Original with German subtitles
In a rural area of Mexico, eight-year-old Neimar lives with his mother and grandmother in a humble abode. »How do you know if God is in you?« he asks his grandma before bed. »Because you can feel it«, she replies. He would like to feel this presence, to be sure of it. He is, after all, a good boy, studying diligently for catechism class and reciting the Ten Commandments by heart. He is polite and understanding of his devout mother, even when she makes bland bean soup or tells him there isn’t enough money for a new outfit for Communion Day. He is loving and patient and sometimes amused by his feisty grandmother. His best friend is a girl named Demi, with whom he goes to church and plays regularly. Racehorses are his greatest passion. He spends every waking minute at the track, where he not only learns about the animals, but also passively soaks up the macho culture that could shape him. The men sometimes poke fun at him, introducing him to the ways of the world—a world where unexpected, painful and life-changing events make him question the very point of God.
Claudia Sainte-Luce’s fifth feature is a poignant coming-of-age drama—quiet and honest. With an almost documentary quality, the unobtrusive, playful camera makes palpable the carefree, luminous childlike perception and the range and intensity of Neimar’s feelings, magnificently and authentically embodied by Diego Armando Lara Lagunes.
Guest: Claudia Sainte-Luce

Claudia Sainte-Luce
Claudia Sainte-Luce was born in Veracruz, Mexico. In 2004, she graduated with a degree in visual arts from the University of Guadalajara. In 2005, her short film Muerte Anunciada (Death Announced) received the Audience Award, the Award for Best Actor and a Jury Mention at the Festival Expresion en Corto in Guanajuato. Since 2007, she has worked as assistant director on several Mexican feature films. Her own feature film debut Los insólitos peces gato has been successfully screened at several festivals and won numerous awards – including the International Critics’ Prize at the Toronto Film Festival.
Films by Claudia Sainte-Luce
Amor y Matemáticas / Love & Mathematics 2022 | Los insólitos peces gato / The Amazing Catfish 2013 | La caja vacía / The Empty Box 2016 | El camino de Sol / Sol’s Journey 2021 | La isla de sacrificios / The Island of Sacrifices 2022