Carlos is the Colombian father of Ecuadorian filmmaker Penagos. The stories he told her as a child were more innocent variations on his real-life experiences as a member of a guerrilla army. Filming him during a long car journey, Penagos encourages her father to tell the real versions of the stories. What he reveals offers an insight to the other side of his life, away from home, fighting Colombian state forces. Divided into chapters and interspersed with shadow puppet plays and stage performances that re-enact Carlos’ tales, Not a Bedtime Story is a fascinating exploration of Latin American identity, which has often combined harsh reality with magical realism, and an acknowledgement of how little we often know about those closest to us.

Skeeter Bronson is a down-on-his-luck guy who's always telling bedtime stories to his niece and nephew. But his life is turned upside down when the fantastical stories he makes up for entertainment inexplicably turn into reality. Can a bewildered Skeeter manage his own unruly fantasies now that the outrageous characters and situations from his mind have morphed into actual people and events?