In 2017, FILMADRID showed Jaime Puertas’ short film El canto de los estorninos, a work of great suggestive influence that revealed a talent of magnetic sensitivity, an attribute that was further enhanced in his medium-length film Los páramos (2019). Taking the step to feature film with Historia de pastores, Puertas confirms and expands a universe of presences, spaces and unique sensations, the myth as an interaction between the real and the imaginary to the point of amazement. The premise is the discovery of prehistoric settlements outside the village of Puebla de Don Fadrique in Granada in order to explore their impact on the local people. The roughness of celluloid dialogues with a surprisingly physical digital image that resurrects ruined cortijos (Andalusian farmhouses) and buried life forms. Through non-professional performers who bring warmth and truth to the film, Historia de pastores articulates a praise of orality not only to preserve timeless intimate and collective legacies, but also to bring them to a fantastic and virtual dimension, thus consolidating their currency in a work of humble and captivating humanism. JAVIER H. ESTRADA