In his vibrant and energetic narrative debut, director Bruno Santamaría Razo digs into his childhood to explore his own family’s complicated dynamics. Set in Mexico City in the early ’90s, the film follows 11-year-old Bruno as he comes to grips with his burgeoning sexuality, as well as his father’s sudden HIV diagnosis. These two parallel threads weave in and out of each other, immersing us in Bruno and his family’s equally heartwarming and heartbreaking daily struggles. But Razo never succumbs to blinding nostalgia. Painted in warm 16mm cinematography, and enlivened by a propulsive, eclectic soundtrack, Six Months in a Pink and Blue Building instead shows how joy and sorrow always coexist, resulting in an extraordinarily open-hearted, perceptive, and loving portrait of a family attempting to stay whole amidst an ever-changing outside world. ~GH