MERRY CHRISTMAS

Francisco (14) and his sister Damaris (8), live in a small house in the mountain. The kids look to create their own christmas after the death of their uncle, the one that used to be the soul of the party.

JORDY MORQUECHO

Born in 1994 in Quito, Ecuador. Graduated from the USFQ, he obtained his bachelor’s degree in cinema and video. He produced his first short documentary, called «The Final Piece of Wood» (2016), which won the amateur film contest CIPA awards in Ambato, Ecuador. Later in his studies, he concentrated on documentary filmmaking and produced «Remember Me,» (2018), a short documentary that was broadcasted on national television by Ecuador TV. At the end of his bachelor, he made his third short documentary «Merry Christmas» (2020–2021), the one that is currently in distribution through film festivals.

Ever since I was a kid, I have been interested in the life of the countryside. As a man who has lived almost all his life in a big city with access to technology, I asked myself: How do some people live without the technological development in this globalized world?

While I was filming «Merry Christmas,» I understood that: The fight between a kid and a calf replaced the trending video game of the moment.

A postcard written by hand hundreds of kilometers away can be more powerful than a text message written on a smartphone.

A small «chicha» dance of two kids in the middle of the forest could be more entertaining than going to the futuristic nightclub you might find.

By the way, when I finished filming, while I was lying in bed, I realized that, as the countryside could be seen as a vision of liberty, peace, and innocence, it could also be hostile, dangerous, and subdued to the cultural and religious traditions. Those that sometimes create «monsters» like the «alcohol culture» the one that leads to a generational vicious cycle that never ends.

DOKer 2022 — Short Competition