BAMcinemaFEST is a brand new festival featuring eighteen new films, artist Q&As, outdoor screenings, an all-night movie marathon, and much more.
The first annual BAMcinemaFEST opened last night at the Howard Gilman Opera House with the New York premiere of Don't Let Me Drown, a beautiful and understated Brooklyn love story. This breakout feature film debut by Cruz Angeles was one of the major discoveries of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. It also won the Audience Award this year at the San Francisco International Film Festival.
GUIDING LIGHT Emmy nominee stars in the film as Lalo. He's pictured here at the premiere with Moisés Acevedo, Dennis Kellum Castro, Gleendilys Inoa, Cruz Angeles, Adrian Martinez and Raul Castillo.
At the center of Cruz Angeles's compelling first feature are Lalo (E.J. Bonilla) and Stefanie (Gleendylis Inoa), two high-school kids living in Brooklyn. Lalo comes from a Mexican immigrant family that struggles financially. His father (Damian Alcázar), formerly a janitor at the World Trade Center, now works at Ground Zero cleaning up debris. Stefanie's family is Dominican and they moved from Manhattan to Brooklyn after her sister was killed in the attacks. While her mother (Gina Torres) tries to hold the family together, her father (Ricardo Antonio Chavira) is overwhelmed by the loss and cannot control his anger. In the midst of their family turmoil and exactly one month after the WTC attacks, Lalo and Stefanie meet at a birthday party, and although they start off on the wrong foot, the ice melts, and their budding friendship becomes a clandestine romance. Don't Let Me Drown features an elegantly poignant story, layered characters and standout performances. The textures of the city and the lives of the families are shaded with a wistful sense of struggle but the heart of the film is a refreshing and honest love story.
The film sounds interesting, and I hope it is eventually released to theaters. Yay for EJ.
ReplyDelete