Malibu Film Society
Malibu
Wednesday, March 27th, 7:30PM
RSVP
Method Festival
Beverly Hills
Thursday, March 28th, 7:30 PM
TICKETS
When an undocumented worker (Edward James Olmos) at the Windows on the World restaurant atop the World Trade Center goes missing after 9/11, his son (Ryan Guzman) embarks on a journey from Mexico to New York City after his mother (Julie Carmen) insists that she saw her husband on the news.
Olmos, directed by his son Michael D. Olmos, portrays Balthazar Reynoso, the beloved patriarch of a Mexican family who leaves their tight knit community for New York in search of a job when the shrimp industry in Mazatlan shuts down for the season.
Concerned that his mother is dying from grief and uncertainty, Balthazar’s son Fernando (Gumzan) sets out to find his father. While crossing the desert he befriends Domingo (Richard Cabral). This is where we begin to realize the savvy intelligence and heartfelt point of view of writer producer Robert Mailer Anderson (Boonville).
Fernando’s journey is a kaleidoscope of new friendships, romance with empathic beauty Lia (Chelsea Gilligan), employment as a window washer with Nigerian immigrant Lou, powerfully played by Glynn Turman. Anderson memorializes the underbelly of New York City, in those days immediately following 9/11 with street poet Abiodun Oyewole, best known as founder of the Last Poets considered by many as the Father of Hip Hop and Rene Auberjonois delivering a blistering rendition of New York New York at a karaoke bar.
When Fernando is told by officials that undocumented workers at the World Trade Center, “did not exist” so no services are offered to their families, he scours the morgue, attends a funeral for his father’s co-worker and interviews his Balthazar’s New York girlfriend (Laura Luna Velez), eventually confronting his father in a stunning scene that exposes his brutal perspective of life and loyalty.
Broadway World Review: CLICK HERE