The Golden Dream (12A)

2013 (Guatemala / Spain / Mexico) (Drama) (Spanish with English subtitles)
Starring: Brandon López, Rodolfo Domínguez, Karen Martínez
Director: Diego Quemada-Díez
The Golden Dream has won 29 awards at film festivals around the world and is a brilliant new road movie about a group of Guatemalan teenagers trying to travel to the US. It works equally well as a Huckleberry Finn-like adventure story and as a brutal realist drama highlighting the exploitation of young migrants. In what must have been gruelling roles, the young actors are exceptional, conveying both their characters’ toughness and their youthful vulnerability. Alongside the shocking and often heartbreaking scenes of their many tribulations, there are moments of lyricism and humour. The Golden Dream is an assured movie debut by director Diego Quemada-Díez. There is no sentimentality at all in his treatment of the kids’ plight – one of the many reasons why the film has such an impact. (1hr 48min)
Tickets on sale 4th November 2014