El Bola DVD

This powerful Spanish childhood drama, winner of four Goya awards the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars, depicts the friednship between two 12-year-old boys from very different families. Pablo Juan Jos Ballesta - nicknamed 'El Bola' 'The Pellet' after the ballbearing he carries as a lucky charm - is a troubled, withdrawn child who has been brought up in a violent and abusive home his father, Mariano Manuel Maron regularly beats him, and his mother Aurora Gloria Muoz is at a loss about how to stop him. At school, Pablo has few friends - but when a new boy, Alfredo Pablo Galan starts at his school, the pair strike up a friendship that alters Pablo's life immeasurably. Alfredo's family, who lead a happy and unconventional lifestyle, accept Pablo into their fold with open arms - but Mariano is less than pleased, particularly when he discovers that his son has accompanied Alfredo's family on a