The Gift reflects on the trauma that a parent's separation has on a child's mental health in a heartfelt and beautiful magic realism drama. Having my parents go through a divorce when I was a little boy, the story of The Gift closely resonated with me. I connected with the Boy and could truly feel what he felt. The divorce, unknown to me, caused psychological damage and significantly shaped who I am now. When my parents divorced, subconsciously, I felt that it was my fault. I wanted them to be back together and prayed as hard as I could for the miracle that would bring everything back as it used to be. Of course, I was not able to magically bring them back together. No matter how well my Mom tried to smile on her face, I could still feel her sorrow leaving me heartbroken with self-blame, that I cannot cheer my Mom up and that there is something wrong with me. At the time, this issue in me was not resolved, and the lack of self-love became part of my personality, leaving tremendous damage on how I, as a person and my life, developed. There are millions of kids with similar stories worldwide who potentially have kids of their own now but grew up with self-blame and lack of love. With The Gift, I want to highlight how kids feel during the divorce and the effects on kids' mental health. I want to speak to those kids who still might have blame buried deep in their hearts for not being able to fix their parents' relationship. It was not their fault! It is never the kid's fault, but they are the ones who usually pay the most. I understand it now. And The Gift is portraying the full circle of this situation. - Pauls Dombrovskis, director