16-Year-Old Debuts Noir Film at Canary Islands Festival

"I fell in love with cinema because it lets you peer into other worlds, helping you understand what it's like to be someone else. Now, directing my own film, I've seen my imagined stories become real. It's been a beautiful experience."

This Sunday, 16-year-old Alejandro Díaz Cedrés (born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 2009) will debut his first film, Children of the Clock. The medium-length feature will screen at 11:00 AM at Multicines Tenerife in La Laguna. It's part of the "Made in the Canary Islands" section of the 9th Canary Islands Fantastic Film Festival Ciudad de La Laguna Isla Calavera.

Children of the Clock is a noir film, which, as the young director told DIARIO DE AVISOS, explores "what happens when people who don't understand justice clash over it." Díaz Cedrés explains that the film weaves together "different parallel stories that eventually connect." It's about "corrupt men, broken by a dark society that closes in on them – a society where the threat of nuclear war is constantly advertised."

Eduardo Zerolo and Daniel Oliva star in the film, alongside Fran Peraza, Borja Saavedra, Felipe Ortín, Javier Martos, Virginia Pérez, Toño Alonso, Nicolás Aranda, and Lorena Rodríguez.

Arteria Films Studios produced the film. Kiko Castro served as producer and composed the original music. Carlos Díaz and Sandra Cedrés were executive producers. Kim Simmons was the production assistant, Mike Simmons handled sound, and Dave Herrer provided script supervision. Alejandro Díaz Cedrés wrote the script himself.

Set in an alternate 1985 New York, the story features characters burdened by the world's weight. The director explains, "It shows what happens when different, morally flawed people fight over one idea: truth. Each character believes truth is whatever benefits them. So, Children of the Clock is primarily a study of justice and morality."

Díaz Cedrés emphasizes how important making this film has been for him. "It's been the greatest experience of my life in many ways, especially for communication and creativity," he says. "When a whole team of artists, each with their own unique ideas about the script, comes together to bring a director's vision – in this case, mine – to life, you truly see how powerful art is as a way to communicate."

"No other experience has opened my mind as much," Díaz Cedrés states. "Hearing so many different ideas that help improve your story, pointing out things you missed, makes you realize what you truly are: someone trying to imagine and capture a reality that exists in the minds of everyone involved in the project."

The young filmmaker sees cinema as an act of empathy. He believes that "when writing a script, you must constantly be close to your characters, almost physically. Another director once told me that if you step back too much from your work, trying to be objective, you lose sight of everything. So, it's an exercise in empathy, almost a physical one, because you need to know your characters intimately, day after day."

Making Children of the Clock has been an ongoing, extraordinary adventure throughout 2025. Díaz Cedrés explains, "The first script was given to Arteria Films Studios in March this year. Since then, countless details have been worked on, including a short film I made beforehand with producer Kiko Castro to explore the main film's themes."

"The intense work happened between March and early October, when the film was finished," he details. "By the time it screens at TEA Tenerife Espacio de las Artes in January, almost a full year will have passed since we started."

"At its heart, Children of the Clock shows what happens when people who can't grasp the idea of justice collide over it."

Filming took place over four non-consecutive days, from August 21 to 26. Key locations included a law office on El Pilar street and the Aurea building on Aurea Díaz Flores street in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Exterior shots were filmed in the commercial park on Aceviño street, home to IKEA, in La Laguna.

When asked about his view of filmmaking as both a craft and an art, Alejandro Díaz Cedrés replies, "Cinema has always been like spiritual food for me. I can't give it up because it helps shape who I am. If you truly commit to filmmaking, it can be crucial in forming the beliefs you use to understand the world around you."

He adds, "Films help me experience the complex situations and realities other people face. They let me live countless lives I otherwise couldn't. It's essentially a form of teleportation. With Children of the Clock, part of my goal was to prove that idea: that cinema is one of art's most powerful communication tools."

He declares, "Cinema is simply a deep act of communication. The screenwriter has to be vulnerable, pouring out every feeling – rage, anger, confusion, whatever it is – and translate it into a tangible reality."

"Cinema lets me live countless realities that I couldn't experience any other way."

Even while working on his first film, Alejandro Díaz Cedrés is already planning two more scripts. He comments, "The new and transformative experience of making Children of the Clock has sparked many new ideas for me. These new projects will share a common theme: the film noir style, with its focus on moral corruption and ethical uncertainty."