Chiclana welcomes Natán Díaz, winner of a film festival in New York

Natán Díaz is 11 years old, is autistic and has won the international PLURAL+ Youth Video Festival with the short film «El autismo es bueno, no es malo», which he wrote and directed. The mayor of Chiclana, José María Román, has received him together with the municipal delegate for Education, María José Batistas, and his family members.

The festival brought together audiovisual creations from 80 countries and 450 short films. Natán won in the under-12 category. The competition addresses issues of diversity, social inclusion, migration and coexistence, and the award gave him the opportunity to travel to New York. The short film arose at the film school in Sevilla where Natán trains, specialised in this subject, when the school itself decided to submit the work to the festival alongside other students.

Alberto Díaz has explained that «the important thing is to know what Natán's specific interest was». According to his account, from a very young age he liked the world of cinema and the family supported him by organising to take him to Sevilla every week. Catalina Verona has highlighted the importance of creating community, one of the aims of the competition. Natán has said that his dream is to be a film director «and to keep learning every day», and he trusts that the short film «will benefit autistic children». The mayor has congratulated the young man and his parents and has stressed the importance of work on inclusion, «because for families it is essential to find resources in order to face day-to-day life».