El Baño Del Papa (The Pope's Toilet)

Dir: César Charlone and Enrique Fernández | Uraguay | 2005 | 97 mins | 35mm

This bittersweet comedy won awards at San Sebastian and Sao Paolo, and is Uruguay’s submission to the 2008 Oscars. It is a tale of honesty, friendship and family values, based on the true events surrounding the Pope’s 1988 visit to a small Uruguayan border town (the actual hometown of co-director Fernández). Beto (Troncoso), who scrapes a living for his family smuggling goods across the Brazil-Uruguay border by bicycle, is caught up in the entrepreneurial frenzy whipped up by the media and its exaggerated visions of the impending Papal visit. He bravely battles against the odds, and the merciless border patrol, to complete his grand plan.