MOVIE MONDAYS: THE GOLDEN DREAM
Last Wednesday, I made my way to the Cornerhouse after work to catch an early screening of The Golden Dream before it was to be be released in cinemas across the UK on the 27th of June. It was quite a surreal night as after the film there was a Q&A session with its director, Diego Quemada-Diez. Now, I don't know about you but that was my first time actually meeting a director whose projects are being showcased in cinemas across the world. Heck, it was my first time meeting a director period. But I am getting ahead of myself here. Let me introduce to the gripping tale of a journey hundreds of people take to find access to their version of the promise land - The Golden Dream (La Jaula de Oro).
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Based on the accounts of more than 600 people, The Golden Dream is a Spanish film about the not-so-glistening world of migrants who try to cross the border between Mexico and the US. It is one filled with honesty, suspense, hope, and the misconceptions of the innocent and introduces you to a way of life that you may not be aware of or have forgotten about. Diego Quemada-Diez (La Morena; I Want to Be a Pilot; A Table Is a Table) not only directed this hauntingly beautiful film that has won several international film awards but he also wrote the script for it alongside Gibran Portela and Lucia Carreras. Conducting interviews over 6 years, he produced this touching story based on the experiences of real migrants in Mexico. It has been a while since I last saw a film quite like The Golden Dream but I am so glad I had the chance to watch this.
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The Golden Dream showcases the struggles a few teenagers go through trying to make their dreams come true and the relationships that are formed along the way despite their many differences. The young actors in this film were a joy to watch as they really did a good job of embodying the naivety and hopefulness of their characters as well as the pain their characters had to endure on their journey. Brandon Lopez starred in this film as the "fearless" Juan who tries his best to lead the way. Sara, the kind, generous and brave young girl was brought to life by Karen Martinez. And the highly resourceful, caring and courageous Chauk, who I think might have bagged the spot as my favourite character, was played by Rodolfo Dominguez.
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I really do recommend that you try and give this film a go if it is showing in a cinema near you. The Golden Dream is a powerful film that will show you that although we may differ - be it we are from different countries, speak different languages, have different temperaments etc - we are all human and share the same dream- a chance at making the most of life. But having said that, just because we may feel someone has it a lot better than we do, it does not necessarily mean that the grass is greener on the other side...
What film have you watched recently that has made you sit back and reflect on how you live your life now?
Mo x
P.S. I will cover the Q&A session with Diego Quemada-Diez in another post as adding it in here would have made this a ridiculously long post. So look out for that!! And yes, I am aware that I have released this on Tuesday and I do apologise to those who were expecting this post on Monday. It seems life ran away with me a bit but it is all good the bloghood now. Bloghood? *shakes head* Who knows, maybe this word will catch on... #doubtful
Happy 1st of July!!