Guillermo del Toro couldn’t go on speaking.
The 62-year-old Mexican filmmaker was participating in the Morelia International Film Festival, where the 20th anniversary of Pan’s Labyrinth was being celebrated, when he was asked about the future of young people. His voice broke. “It hurts me so much to see that one, two, or three generations completely failed this generation”, he said. “We are handing the next generation a world in ruins—morally, socially, spiritually”.
He fell silent for a few seconds, and the auditorium responded with applause. Earlier, he had criticized cynicism: as he put it, it’s easier to seem intelligent by being skeptical than to be someone who wants to hold on to the faith that we can come together.
But he didn’t stop at lamenting. He suggested a first step, as simple as it is difficult to take: “I think that if we can tell young people we’re sorry, with love, it can work”.