Between 1985 –1987, over 120.000 young Uruguayans left their country in search of better opportunities – specially young people live the daily frustration of looking for work, of trying to study or succeed. In Uruguay, after the dictatorship, the crisis is not only economic, but moral and generational. “The surface” is the story of a young Uruguayan, who wakes up to find an empty city. The image is an allegory for a country, which is submerged, which is emptying. The story is told in a dream-like, sometimes humorous, style which uses little dialogue but much effective music, sound and visual language. The young protagonist tries to reach the surface, to understand and transform the reality which is submerging. But ---which is the price he pays in order to achieve it? “The surface” won a Coral Award at the Havana Film & Video festival in December ’88 for best fiction video.