The fresh-faced Luna, 30, who starred in the 2001 "Y tu mama tambien" (And Your Mother Too) and the 2008 "Milk," said he had been working on the project for some time.

"It has evolved," he told AFP. "Once it was due to take place during a carnival in Vera Cruz. Then it was a Hamlet figure played by a child. But it was always centered around a child who becomes an adult before his time."

"Abel" tells the story of a boy with behavioral difficulties, played by Christopher Ruiz-Esparza, who after a long stay in hospital returns home to find his father gone. He begins to slip into the role of the father, and his mother (Karina Gidi) plays along so as not to anger her disturbed son. Until, that is, the father, played by Jose Maria Yazpik, returns two years later.

"This story has a lot to do with my own background, that from the age of six I was already working, and that I have always lived around a lot of adults," said Luna.

"In some ways for me it was a positive experience because I used it to develop and grow. But it does seem very unfair to me to impose such a thing on a child."

The movie is full of humor despite its subject matter, and Luna said that "the subject was so personal to me that if I hadn't laughed I would have gone crazy.

"Using irony makes it much easier to tell such an intimate story. I also became a father for the first time during the project, and that completely changed my outlook."

The theme of childhood also reflects the fact that Luna is making his debut as a director. "The first time you direct a film you are like a child who is learning a new language, and I think it's natural to tell the story of someone you could have been in the past."

Luna said he had enjoyed the experience of being a director, and was motivated to take up a new project, "but in the same way as 'Abel,' by taking the time to find a story and working on it a lot.

"I lost my hair, and I couldn't sleep, but I really enjoyed it," he said.

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