area. One of the guerrillas, Raton, tells Chava of the army's next recruitment day, and Chava and his friends warn the entire town to hide their children. Chava decides to visit Cristina Maria but only finds the bombed-out shell of her house. He and his friends decide to join the guerrillas, but they are followed and the guerrilla camp is attacked by the army. Chava and his friends are taken from the camp, and forcibly marched to an unknown destination, repeating the opening scene. It appears to be an execution ground on a riverbank, where other bodies litter the scene. Ancha, the mentally handicapped local from Chava's village is seen to have been hanged. The soldiers begin to shoot the boys one by one, and two of them are killed. Chava is next in turn, but at the last moment he is saved by a guerrilla attack. He runs back into the undergrowth right into a raging firefight. After seeing a guerrilla get killed by a government soldier, Chava feels he should fight against them. He picks up the rifle, but realizes the government soldier is another young boy who he knew in school. He cannot bring himself to kill his old friend, another human. He flees, and the camera shows the boy he was aiming at, who realizes that his life was in another child's hands. Chava runs home to find his mother in the burnt out ruins of their house. She decides to send him to the United States to prevent him being caught by the authorities, and he promises to return and rescue his brother before he too turns twelve. In 1992, six years later, it is shown that he also rescued his brother and brought him into the United States, and the war has ended. Cast Carlos Padilla as Chava Leonor Varela as Kella José María Yazpik as Uncle Beto Ofelia Medina as Mama Toya Ana Paulina Caceres as Rosita Xuna Primus as Cristina Maria Daniel Giménez Cacho as Priest Adrián Alonso as Chele Jesús Ochoa as Chofer Paulina Gaitán as Angelita Gustavo Muñoz as Ancha Release This film premiered at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival on 16 September 2004, before being released in Mexico on 28 January 2005. It later received a limited release in the United States on 14 October 2005. Reception This film received favorable reviews from film critics. Based on 51