LAKE TAHOE Narrative Competition

Director Fernando Eimbcke returns to AFI FEST (his first film, DUCK SEASON, won the AFI FEST 2004 Grand Jury Prize) with his second film, one with a strong autobiographical element. After Eimbcke’s father died, he passed through a long denial process and then crashed the family car LAKE TAHOE was born out of these events as an attempt for Eimbcke to understand the reasons that pushed him to commit “such an absurd and profoundly human act” as he puts it. Sixteen-year-old Juan crashes his family’s car into o telephone pole on the outskirts of town. Juan calls home, where his younger brother, Joaquin, tells him that their mother is purposefully locked in the bathroom. Juan hangs up. After scouring the streets searching for someone to help him fix the car, Juan meets Don Heber, a paranoid mechanic whose only companion is Sica, his almost-human boxer dog . Don Heber promises to fix the car as soon as Juan can find a needed part , so Juan sets off on an urban quest. LAKE TAHOE is a thoughtful, evocative portrayal of death, longing and the sometimes-static nature of life Combining the powers of observance and understatement, Eimbcke renders an emotional tale of a young man on a journey that will change his life.