By Justina Walford
Special to the Daily News

As a newlywed, I am often finding myself wondering how love stays young. Forever is a long time, after all. Right now, I think my husband looks like the latest James Bond. I think his humor is South Park meets Jon Stewart. And his smarts make him a better choice for Vice President. But in twenty years? Fifty? When that golden anniversary passes, what is it in my husband that will make my heart skip a beat? Will we have forgotten what we feel now? And if so, what could bring us back to this?

There are a few films in the Festival that journey back to that first skipped heartbeat. And in true independent fashion, it is the emotional deep end, complex and mysterious. Three films in particular take us to first love. The only time in your life where love is not compared. Love is not sullied by heartache or tinted by the past. With that said, expect no wide-eyed innocence in flowery fun worlds. This collection of first-love features will make you get your hands dirty for that puppy love.

KISSES, directed by Lance Daly, is a perfect, crystallized moment of young love. Pre-teens Kylie and Dylan are two bright children hungry for living in a lifeless world. The two are neighbors in a poor Dublin neighborhood, their families unhappy and friends scarce. But they grasp the opportunity to run away and search for Dylan’s brother and their lives become more tightly fused.

Although a child, Kylie embodies the woman in love. She is loyal and comforting, pulling Dylan up from his despair with unwavering belief in him. It is so perfect that their adventure shows them Bob Dylan’s ode “Shelter from the Storm,” which becomes a poignant theme song. And Dylan, the child rebel, grows into a man by letting her into his heart. Throughout the night, they find that their love runs so deep, nothing on these harsh city streets can separate them.

These kids so innocent and yet completely immersed in such harsh realities show a fantastic key into true, forever love—loyalty to each other.

Director Federico Veiroj goes for a completely different puppy love in ACNE. This deadpan coming-of-age film starts with sex and ends with a kiss, which is about how backwards (and yet completely relatable) our young hero, Rafa, finds love. Ah, the agony of the first kiss. 13-year old Rafa does everything in his power to make himself ready for this kiss. He loses his virginity, he works on his looks, he schemes moments to be with the beautiful classmate Nicole. He even gets the courage to just plain ask for a kiss. But none of this really seems to lead to his first kiss. And yet, all that work lets that kiss find him.

What really stands out in this film is Rafa’s devotion, not to a girl, but to his deeply rooted desire for that kiss—the idea of the kiss, the meaning of the kiss. His friends cheer him on in this awkward and sometimes heart-cracking search as they wonder why he can’t get something he works so diligently toward. And that leads us to the second key to forever love—loyalty to love itself.

The third film, I AM GOING TO EXPLODE, is an inspirational and epic account of crazy, young love. The film’s adventure plays like a speech one hears before going to war—executed with the intent to trigger equal parts passion, loyalty to one’s own, and disgust against one’s enemies. Gerardo Naranjo (DRAMA/MEX) brings us into the hearts of two disaffected 15-year olds who can’t find their fit in the world until they find each other. While they hide from their unhappy families, Roman and Maru surrender to each other. Maru calls Roman her “accomplice,” bringing up images of two young rebels against the world. And the film backs this up as the two are challenged by politics, people, and their own human frailties.

Maru surrendered many important things to be with Roman—family, friends, comfort—and Roman develops such a strong need for her as he starts his life over. The two become so enmeshed that the audience becomes invested in their survival as idealistic lovers, bringing us to the third key: surrender. Through these young lovers we find for ourselves the reward of surrendering completely to one’s perfect match. While the price may be high, nothing compares to giving completely over to one’s true love.

One could argue every film is a love story at its core. Any good story challenges the three keys to love found in these films: loyalty to another, loyalty to one’s greatest desire, and strength of faith and spirit. Interesting enough, so many romantic films barely scratch the surface. As they wander through the quirks and annoyances of “being together,” so many films about relationships forget the challenges and rewards of “being in love.” However, KISSES, ACNE, and I AM GOING TO EXPLODE bring us to the greatest depths of love and the quest for love as our heroes journey full throttle through their youth.