The story is about the separated couple Anna and Matthias, who, despite of the not yet healed wounds, together organize the birthday party for Lukas, their seven-year-old son, who’s greatest wish is to visit the baby elephant in the zoo. As often before, Matthias has cancelled his father-son weekend and their visit of the zoo. At the end of the party one of the children, little guest Julius, doesn’t get picked up by his parents. A rapid chain of events and a long travel through the night starts. In the beginning, Matthias simply wants to get rid of Julius, but then the helpless boy arouses his protective father instincts and he opens his eyes to his own son’s needs. By acting as protector of Julius, Matthias learns that he is able to give more attention towards his own son Lukas.

More information: http://www.weydemannbros.com/filme/der-geburtstag

Born in Uruguay in 1977, Carlos A. Morelli studied film directing at the country’s Universidad ORT and screenwriting at the ESCAC film academy in Barcelona/Spain. In 2009, he received a grant from the Berlin artists program of the DAAD. His short film WARISOVER won the Arte Short Film Award at Filmfest Hamburg in 2011. His fiction feature debut MI MUNDIAL celebrated its premiere in 2017 in the competition at South Korea’s Busan Film Festival and went on to become the second highest grossing film at the box office in Uruguayan cinema history.

Filmography (selection): 2011 WARISOVER (short film), 2017 MI MUNDIAL, 2019 MANY HAPPY RETURNS

Awards (selection): Award for Best Film (Shanghai International Film Festival, China 2019), Label “Exceptionally valuable” (German Film and Media Evaluation Organization, Wiesbaden/Germany 2019)