37th cleveland international film festival :: April 3 - april 14, 2013
UndertowUndertowUndertowUndertowUndertow
UndertowUndertowUndertowUndertow
Director:
Javier Fuentes-León

Run Time: 100 minutes

Country: PERU

Year: 2009
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Undertow (Contracorriente)

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Does love survive after death? Anchored in the Latin American tradition of magic realism, UNDERTOW dives into this question in an unusually moving way. Miguel and Mariela live in a candy-colored fishing village in northern Peru and happily anticipate the birth of a son. One day an outsider appears on the margins of the village. It’s Santiago, a handsome painter who lives in a house by the sea. The villagers are suspicious; he doesn’t attend church. Under the pretense of mending his fishing nets, Miguel sneaks off repeatedly to make passionate love with Santiago. But there’s a curse on their happiness: Santiago is caught in a current and swept out to sea. He returns to appear before Miguel, who initially tries to shoo him away. But nobody except Miguel can see the ghost of Santiago. Finally they can love freely, visible only to each other. Yet Miguel knows if he doesn’t surrender Santiago’s body to the sea, he’s doomed to wander forever. UNDERTOW is a beautiful film about sacrifice—and having the courage to face who we are. (In Spanish with subtitles) –B.B.

Sidebars Cinema en Español, 10% Cinema
Producer Javier Fuentes-León, Rodrigo Guerrero
Screenplay Javier Fuentes-León
Cinematography Mauricio Vidal
Editing Roberto Benavides, Javier Fuentes-León
Principal Cast Tatiana Astengo, Manolo Cardona, Cristian Mercado
Director Bio Javier Fuentes-León was born in Lima. He moved to Los Angeles after graduating as a doctor in Peru to earn a Master’s degree in Film Directing at the California Institute of the Arts. He currently works as a director in the U.S.
Select Filmography UNDERTOW (2009)
Print Source The Film Colllaborative
jeffrey@thefilmcollaborative.org
www.undertowfilm.com
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Past Screenings

Friday, March 25, 2011 at 9:30 PM
Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 6:05 PM

Member Comments

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Posted by David Phillips, FilmFanatic Member

This is a visually beautiful film from Peru, but the distastefulness of the story – a man who cheats on his pregnant wife – is not at all altered simply because the man is gay or bisexual.