I didn’t see it coming.
I woke up in the middle of the night — one of those random wake-ups that have become routine lately — and, almost unconsciously, I checked my phone. There it was. An email.
At first, I didn’t fully process it. I opened it half-asleep, scrolling through the lines, trying to understand what I was reading. Then it hit me: Shifting Courts had been selected at the San Francisco International Film Festival.
And not only that — it had been invited to be part of the Schools at the Festival program.
I stayed there, in the dark, somewhere between disbelief and curiosity, starting to look things up. What was this program exactly? How big was this festival, really?
The more I read, the more it sank in.
This wasn’t just another selection. This was the oldest film festivals in the United States, and the educational program was highly curated, selecting only a small number of films from around the world each year.
It was the first acceptance after a series of rejections.
And I think, without fully realizing it, I had started to lose a bit of faith.
That night, something shifted.
The next morning, I told Amaia.
Saying it out loud made it real. And as the hours passed, as I kept researching, the weight of it all started to grow. Not in a loud, explosive way — but in a quiet, steady realization:
This meant something.
Not just for the film, but for me.
For months, Shifting Courts had been a personal exploration — a need to create something honest, something slower, something that could hold meaning beyond the image.
And suddenly, this selection felt like a form of validation.
Not just of the work, but of the intention behind it.
The idea that sport can be more than competition.
That it can be about connection, growth, community.
About creating bridges.
Seeing the film resonate in this context felt like a confirmation that those ideas matter.
That they still have a place.
Very quickly, one thought became clear:
I have to go.
Not just to attend — but to represent what the film stands for. Because I know that the film on its own is not the full story. What I carry with me — the experiences, the conversations, the way I understand these spaces — is also part of it.
And then came the other thought.
The difficult one.
The dates.
The festival takes place just days after my son is expected to be born.
And suddenly, what felt like a pure moment of excitement became something more complex. A decision that isn’t simple.
To go means being away, even if only for a few days, at a moment that feels impossible to leave.
To stay means letting go of something that feels equally important.
I haven’t fully resolved that tension yet.
But maybe that’s also part of this journey.
What I do know is that this changes something.
It brings the film back to life.
It opens a door.
And it reminds me why I started this in the first place.
I don’t know exactly what will happen in San Francisco.
But I know I want to be there.
Shifting Courts at the 69th San francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM)
