Sin Nombre (2009) Sin nombre (original title)

Director:

Cary Fukunaga

Writer (WGA):

Cary Fukunaga (written by)

Release Date:

15 May 2009 (Mexico)

Genre:

Adventure | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The greatest sin of all is risking nothing.

Plot:

Honduran teenager Sayra reunites with her father, an opportunity for her to potentially realize her dream of a life in the U.S...

Plot Keywords:

Mexico | Boat | 555 Phone Number | Crossing The Border | Cigarette Smoking

Awards:

12 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Marco Antonio Aguirre	...	Big Lips
Leonardo Alonso	...	Policía Judicial
Karla Cecilia Alvarado	...	Marera
Juan Pablo Arias Barrón	...	Niño #3
Rosalba Belén Barrón	...	Niño #2
Felipe Castro	...	Marero (as Sixto Felipe Castro)
Rosalba Quintana Cruz	...	Tierra Blanca Mujer
Marcela Feregrino	...	Kimberly
Kristyan Ferrer	...	El Smiley (as Kristian Ferrer)
Edgar Flores	...	Willy 'El Casper'
Giovanni Florido	...	El Sipe
Paulina Gaitan	...	Sayra
Ariel Galvan	...	Migrante #1
Diana García	...	Martha Marlene
Gabriela Garibaldi	...	Diana
Ignacio Gonzalez	...	Marero
Noé Hernández	...	Resistol
Lilibeth Flores	...	Yamila
Jesús Lira	...	Marero
Catalina López	...	Tia Toña
Hector Anzaldua	...	El Turbino (as Hector Lortia)
Benny Manuel	...	Niño #1
Fernando Manzano	...	Donald
Liliana Martinez	...	Marera
Mary Paz Mata	...	Abuela de Sayra
Tenoch Huerta	...	Lil' Mago (as Tenoch Huerta Mejía)
Emir Meza	...	Peluquín
Emilio Miranda	...	Otro Marero
José Miguel Moctezuma	...	Marero
Esperanza Molina	...	La Hermana
Luis Fernando Peña	...	El Sol
Iván Rafael	...	El Bomba
Gabino Rodríguez	...	El Scarface
David Serrano	...	El Smokey
Gerardo Taracena	...	Horacio
Harold Torres	...	El Pícaro
Andrés Valdéz	...	Policía Judicial
Max Valencia Zúñiga	...	El Chino
Noé Velázquez	...	El Happy
Tulio Villavicencio	...	El Pájaro
Guillermo Villegas	...	Orlando
Javier Rivera Flores	...	Barrio 18
Luis Ángel Paz Flores	...	Barrio 18
José Rogelio Vázquez López	...	Barrio 18
Luis Antonio Vázquez López	...	Barrio 18
José Luis Montiel Luna	...	Barrio 18
Marco Tolio Durand Martínez	...	Barrio 18
Jesús Humberto Fuentes Perez	...	Barrio 18
Luis Alfredo Rodríguez Sánchez	...	Barrio 18
Silverio Menchaque Zárate	...	Barrio 18
Héctor Jiménez	...	Leche - Wounded Man
Damayanti Quintanar	...	Clarissa
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marcela Macias	...	Rosario (as Marcela Hyasu)

Directed by
Cary Fukunaga		(as Cary Jôji Fukunaga)

Writing credits (WGA)
Cary Fukunaga		(written by) (as Cary Joji Fukunaga)

Produced by
Gerardo Barrera	....	executive producer
Pablo Cruz	....	executive producer
Gael García Bernal	....	executive producer
Amy Kaufman	....	producer
Diego Luna	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Marcelo Zarvos

Cinematography by
Adriano Goldman

Film Editing by
Luis Carballar
Craig McKay

Casting by
Carla Hool

Production Design by
Claudio Contreras

Art Direction by
Carlos Benassini

Set Decoration by
Aida Rodriguez		(chief set decorator)

Costume Design by
Leticia Palacios

Makeup Department
Viviana Delgado	....	makeup coordinator
Monica Fuentes	....	assistant makeup artist
Alfredo Garcia	....	makeup designer
Isabel Rojas	....	tattoos and bodypainting
Jimena Romero	....	tattoos and bodypainting
Carla Tinoco	....	hair designer
Carla Tinoco	....	makeup designer
Edgar Vazquez	....	assistant makeup artist

Production Management
Karl Braun	....	production manager: second unit
Laila Castillo	....	unit manager
Lorraine Samuel	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
María Raquel Dioni	....	key second assistant director
Victor Herrera McNaught	....	first assistant director: second unit
Julian 'Chico' Valdez	....	second second assistant director
René Villarreal	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Jimena Contreras	....	art department coordinator
Roberto Revilla	....	leadman
Óscar Tapia	....	on-set dresser

Sound Department
Steve Baine	....	foley artist
Todd Beckett	....	sound re-recording mixer
Elma Bello	....	sound
Paul Bidault	....	adr recordist
Keith Elliott	....	sound re-recording mixer
Ruy García	....	sound recordist
Mark Gingras	....	supervising sound editor
Jamie Gould	....	sound re-recording assistant
Gina Gyles	....	foley assistant
Katie Halliday	....	second assistant sound editor
John Laing	....	supervising sound editor
Paulina Louvier	....	adr coordinator: Mexico
Colin McLellan	....	adr recordist
Rob Nokes	....	additional sound effects library
Santiago Núñez	....	sound mixer
Peter Persaud	....	foley recordist
Brad Thornton	....	sound re-recording mixer
Mark Zsifkovits	....	sound re-recording mixer

Visual Effects by
Ioan Balcosi	....	compositor
Ayo Burgess	....	visual effects: Mr. X Inc.
Wilson Cameron	....	visual effects coordinator
Jeff Capogreco	....	lighting / techical director
Dan Carnegie	....	animación: Mr. X Inc.
David Fix	....	senior systems administrator: Mr. X Inc
Kristyn Hume	....	main title sequence
Mike Kwan	....	digital compositor: Mr. X Inc.
Mai-Ling Lee	....	digital artist
Chris MacKenzie	....	digital opticals
Sarah McMurdo	....	visual effects producer
Jessica Nolet	....	digital artist
Rob Phillips	....	visual effects production assistant
Sebastien Proulx	....	visual effects production assistant
Vishal Rustgi	....	digital compositor
Paul Saint-Hilaire	....	digital compositor: Nuke
Kenneth Sales	....	digital compositor
Armando Velazquez	....	digital compositor
Chris Wallace	....	digital intermediate colourist

Stunts
Hugo Aguilera	....	stunt rigger
Odin Ayala	....	stunt double
Odin Ayala	....	utility stunts
Omar Ayala	....	stunts
Balo Bucio	....	stunt coordinator
Julian Bucio	....	stunt coordinator
Toni Bucio	....	stunt rigger
Leonel Gabino	....	stunts
Antonio Garcia	....	stunts
Eduardo Gomez	....	stunts
Paola Hernandez	....	stunts
José Medina	....	stunts
Juan Olaldo	....	stunts
Victor Hugo Ramirez	....	stunts
Alonso Rosado	....	stunts
Francisco Valdez	....	stunts
Pablo Vinós	....	stunts
Josué Virgen	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Pamela Albarran	....	camera trainee
Rodrigo Carvalho	....	camera operator
Arturo Castañeda	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Pedro Lezama	....	second assistant camera
Eniac Martínez Ulloa	....	still photographer
Carlos Silva	....	video assist

Casting Department
Genaro Hernandez	....	casting assistant
Eliseo Ruiz	....	casting assistant
Rodrigo Urbano	....	casting associate
Carlos del Valle	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Brenda Gomez	....	wardrobe assistant
Emilio Solorzano	....	wardrobe assistant

Editorial Department
Dan Elortegui	....	first assistant editor
Lee Hughes	....	digital intermediate project manager
Lara Johnston	....	first assistant editor
Tom Mayclim	....	digital intermediate scanner and recorder
Craig McKay	....	editorial consultant
Dave Muscat	....	digital intermediate editor
Brigitte Rabazo	....	first assistant editor
Lorraine Samuel	....	post production supervisor

Music Department
Rob Bertola	....	music editor
Mark Bächle	....	orchestrator
Daniel Coe	....	orchestrator
Daniel Coe	....	score preparation
Lynn Fainchtein	....	music supervisor
Richard King	....	music scoring engineer
Philip Rothman	....	orchestrator
Tim Starnes	....	music editor

Other crew
Erika Archaga	....	dialect coach
Karl Braun	....	location manager
Ignacio Gonzalez	....	set production assistant
Noralí Gonzalez	....	production coordinator
Javier Gonzalez-Rubio	....	production assistant
Nayeli Gunther	....	trainee production assistant
Sofía Guzmán	....	set production assistant
Elsa Hermoso	....	production accountant
Ricardo M. Kaplan	....	accounting assistant
Gabriel Nuncio	....	researcher
Gabriel Nuncio	....	script translator
Carlos Topete	....	assistant: unit manager
Ben Urquhart	....	post production executive

Thanks
Jeffrey Abramson	....	special thanks
Luis Antonio Acosta	....	special thanks
Jay Anania	....	special thanks
Dean Sheril D. Antonio	....	special thanks
Darren Aronofsky	....	special thanks
David Atkins	....	special thanks
Armagan Ballantyne	....	special thanks
Yvette Biro	....	special thanks
Elizabeth Bull	....	special thanks
Mick Casale	....	special thanks
Carlos González Castellanos	....	special thanks
Elvin Delgado Chacón	....	special thanks
Angela Cheng	....	special thanks
Christine Choy	....	special thanks
Christopher Ciancimino	....	special thanks
María Noriega Fernández	....	special thanks
Boris Frumin	....	special thanks
Miyoko Fukunaga	....	in memory of
Lil Ghost	....	special thanks
Everardo Valerio Gout	....	special thanks
Bradley Rust Gray	....	special thanks
Trygve Grufman	....	in memory of
Adriana Guillén	....	special thanks
Mark Heyman	....	special thanks
Kit Hui	....	special thanks
Kirsten Johnson	....	special thanks
Kirsten Johnson	....	special thanks
Craig Kestel	....	special thanks
So Yong Kim	....	special thanks
Marco Lara Klahr	....	special thanks
Andrew MacLean	....	special thanks
Jake Mahaffy	....	special thanks
Victoria Mahoney	....	special thanks
Milcho Manchevski	....	special thanks
Eran Merav	....	special thanks
Rob Meyer	....	thanks
Ginga Mundo	....	special thanks
Jeremiah Newton	....	special thanks
Dunia Orellana	....	special thanks
Carlos Pavón	....	special thanks
William Reilly	....	special thanks
James Rogan	....	special thanks
Patricio Serna	....	special thanks
Kunti Shaw	....	special thanks
Sandi Sissel	....	thanks
Sol	....	special thanks
Lisa Stone	....	special thanks
Tampico	....	special thanks (as Onaje Tampico Lataillade)
Milford Thomas	....	special thanks
John Tintori	....	special thanks
Scott Tuft	....	thanks
Freddy Turcios	....	special thanks
David Vivar	....	special thanks
Ameer Youssef	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Scion Films (in association with)
• Canana Films
• Creando Films
• Primary Productions

Distributors

• Alliance (2009) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Diaphana Films (2009) (France) (theatrical)
• Focus Features (2009) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Nikkatsu (2010) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Revolver Entertainment (2009) (UK) (theatrical)
• Alliance (2009) (Canada) (DVD)
• Castello Lopes Multimédia (2010) (Portugal) (all media)
• Film1 (2010) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)
• Madman Entertainment (2010) (Australia) (all media)
• Odeon (2009) (Greece) (all media)
• Prokino Filmverleih (2010) (Germany) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2010) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures do Brasil (2009) (Brazil) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Mr. X (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Deluxe EFilm  digital intermediate (as Deluxe EFilm Toronto)
• Deluxe Post-Production  post-production facilities
• Discos Tormento  courtesy of: "Cumbia del Informe"
• Equipment & Film Design  camera & lenses & accessories
• Jeremy Records  courtesy of: "En el Barrio Va No Hay Gente"
• Lakeshore Records  soundtrack
• Mantequilla Records  courtesy of: "Latino"
• Mantequilla Records  courtesy of: "Máquinas Cobardes"
• Murphy PR  publicity
• National Institute of Anthropology and History  authorized by: "La última Palabra" (as El Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia)
• Postillion Studios  titles
• Sony BMG Music Entertainment  courtesy of: "Déjate Caer"
• Sony BMG Music Entertainment  courtesy of: "Mecánico"
• Sunflower Entertainment  courtesy of: "En el Barrio Va No Hay Gente"
• Tomenota Records  courtesy of: "Flaca de las Coloradas"

Also Known As:

"Sin nombre" - Mexico (original title)
"Without Name" - International (English title) (literal title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and some sexual content

Runtime:

USA:96 min (Sundance Film Festival)

Country:

Mexico | USA

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Canada:14A (British Columbia/Ontario) | Mexico:B15 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Alberta) | Czech Republic:15 | UK:15 | Norway:15 | Ireland:15A | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | Australia:MA | Netherlands:16 | Japan:PG12 | Portugal:M/16

Filming Locations:

Torreón, Coahuíla, Mexico

Company:

Scion Films

Trivia:

Cary Fukunagra spent two years researching the film, spending time with people on the trains and with gangsters in Central America. He also used two gang members to script edit making the slang and language as up to date and realistic as possible

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The teardrop tattoo on el Casper's right eye is missing in two consecutive scenes on the top of the train but is visible on his face throughout the movie both before and after these scenes on the train. Interestingly, the tattoo is an important identifying mark/symbol in the movie and is specifically highlighted by gang members when asking locals if they have seen Casper as they try to find him and hunt him down.

Quotes:

Sayra:Back home, my friend Clarissa made me see this crazy neighbor, Doña Eleanor, you know, like witchcraft? She smoked this puro, then told me with her freaky voice that I'd make it to the U.S. but not in God's hand, perhaps in the Devil's.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Stockholms 20th International Film Festival (2009) (TV)

Soundtrack:

SONG FOR BOB

The pain of viewing was worth it

Let's call this film a documentary. Sure, these were actors following a script. But more importantly, it documents a segment of life that few readers in the developed world have any insight into.

For those who avoid graphic violence, I suggest reading the section on this site that describes specifically what it is, and shut your eyes selectively. I did; but still couldn't relax enough to have dinner afterward until I downed several shots of Scotch. I was shaken, my throat constricted, and imbued with a feeling that may be a mild dose of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

But documentaries are like that. And when I read that the writer-director, Cary Joji Fukunaga, had actually lived with his subjects, and risked his life voluntarily, as they do out of routine necessity, I consider the least I can do is vicariously experience this reality. It is a reality that I see every day in the frightened eyes of those stunted young men congregating around "Home Depot" looking for a day's wages.

It reflects a life so mean, so violent, that the lawless Tijuana is a Nirvana compared to their home slums of Honduras and Guatemala. So first they come to Mexico, then ride the trains to the ultimate goal, America. In doing so they run a gauntlet of dangers that could only be conveyed in a dramatization such as this.

Empathy, compassion to all in our society, is a luxury for those born into a world where such emotion is the norm. Even in America's imperfect society, the rule of law predominates and the random violence is still newsworthy. The people in this film, especially the gang members had no such choice. These gangs provide a circle of affection and caring, but it is defined by the contrast between those who are their "homies" and the outsiders, the other gangs, for whom cruelty has no limits.

On a day trip last week to Baja California, we were stopped at a check point configured exactly like the one in the film. A single soldier in bullet proof vest surrounded by sand bags with a 50 caliber machine gun pointed at our car. My friend struck up a conversation with the guard; they both smiled, and we went on our way, to stop at a bakery right before crossing the border and heading to our home in Encinitas.

Similar check points; but for those refugees in "Sin Nombres" huddled in the empty car on the truck, their lives depended on not being seen. If they had been spotted, and then run out of fear, the machine gun would have killed them in a second, by soldiers hardened by the same violence they face.

My day trip to Mexico, while covering same type of territory, could not have been more different. I had my American Express Card and an American Passport, along with a cloak of protection by the norms of an ordered society. Those depicted in the film had none of this. Their lives were determined at the moment of their birth, with choices so limited that their desperate Odyssey to reach what was my birthright was their best available option .

This is an important film. Perhaps it should be edited with the more horrible graphic acts simply alluded to, to make it more accessible to a wider audience in America. While it provides no political prescription, it conveys an accurate picture of the reality of life just below our border.

If there is to be a political plan to addressing our "illegal immigrant" problem, at the least it should be informed by the road taken by those depicted in this powerful film.