La jaula de oro (2013)

A road movie about teenage immigrants and their journey to the U.S.

Director:

Diego Quemada-Díez

Writers:

Diego Quemada-Díez, Gibrán Portela

Stars:

Brandon López, Rodolfo Domínguez, Karen Martínez

37 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Brandon López	...	Juan
Rodolfo Domínguez	...	Chauk
Karen Martínez	...	Sara
Carlos Chajon	...	Samuel
Héctor Tahuite	...	Gregorio
Ricardo Esquerra	...	Vitamina
Luis Alberti	...	Hombre con Machete
César Bañuelos	...	Jefe Secuestro Tren
Gilberto Barraza	...	Coyote
Juan Carlos Medellin	...	Policía
Salvador Ramírez Jiménez	...	Policía
José Concepción Macías	...	Jacinto
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ramon Medina
Ramón Medína	...	Kaliman

Storyline

Juan, Sara, and Samuel, three teenagers from the slums of Guatemala, travel to the United States in search of a better life. On their journey through Mexico, they meet Chauk, an Indian from Chiapas who doesn't speak Spanish. Traveling together in freight trains and walking on railroad tracks, they soon have to face an odyssey that will change their lives forever.

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Plot Keywords:

slaughterhouse | girl dressed as boy | mexico | immigrant | train | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Mexico Spain Guatemala

Language:

Spanish Tzotzil

Release Date:

9 May 2014 (Mexico)

Also Known As:

A Jaula de Ouro

Filming Locations:

Guatemala

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Animal de Luz Films,Castafiore Films,Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (CONACULTA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

D-Cinema 48kHz 5.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first version of the movie was about 2 and a half hours.

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Quotes

Chauk: [in spanish] Brother...
Juan: [in spanish] So Chauk, you finally learn some spanish. But I'm not your brother.

User Reviews

Interesting and provoking Mexican/Spanish/Guatemala co-production about three teen immigrants and their journey to the U.S.

A strong road movie dealing with three boys , Juan : Brandon López , Sara : Karen Martínez , Samuel : Carlos Chajon , they are three teenagers from the slums of Guatemala, all of them travel to the United States in search of a better life . On their journey since Guatemala through Mexico , they meet Chauk : Rodolfo Domínguez , an Indian from Chiapas who doesn't speak Spanish . Along the way they suffer famine , attacks , robbing and many other things .

This is a thought-provoking and hard movie with very powerful moments concerning about three teenagers traveling together in freight trains and walking on railroad tracks , but they soon have to face a harsh reality . "Jaula" tracks three teens , one a young Tzxotzil native, from Guatemala across the length of Mexico as they dodge migration cops , clash with gangs and travel on train-tops to a white-knuckle climax on the U.S.-Mexico border . It is a groundbreaking film about a teenager's decision to move to United States and leave everything that he has behind to start a new life in the pursuit of the American Dream . Crossing countries they learn that the American Dream is not easily acquired and maybe and impossibility to attain for some , and they are forced to make some tough choices . The screenplay manages to give some brief laughs from the audience and some romantic elements that you never loose your attention from the film . The picture has a brilliant and evocative cinematography by María Secco who shows splendidly the colorful South American outdoors . Furthermore , a sensitive musical score by Jacobo Lieberman , including attractive Latinas songs . The film was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival -Un Certain Regard Official Selection-, winning Un Certain Talent Award, Gillo Pontecorvo Award and François Chalais Special Mention Award . In its Mexican premiere at the Morelia Film Festival, as the picture won three awards: Audience Award, Best First Film and Press Guerrero Award .

The motion picture was compellingly directed by Diego Quemada whose first version of the movie was about 2 and a half hours ; being his first long-feature film . Diego was born in the Iberian Peninsula , Burgos , Castilla . He has lived in the American continent for the past two decades , being nationalized Mexican . His first job in the film industry was in 1995, in Ken Loach's film Land and Freedom as a camera assistant to the director of cinematography . Diego went on working as a camera operator assistant in known titles as : Gone in Sixty Seconds , Man on fire , The lost son , 21 grams , Any Given Sunday , The constant gardener , among others . His graduation film at the American Film Institute (AFI) as writer/director/ was : A Table is a Table . He also shot several shorts . Diego then stepped up in scale with his feature debut "The Golden Cage" , this immigration drama that swept the 2014 Ariel Awards snagging nine kudos , the talent prize at Cannes' Un Certain Regard and a Gold Hugo at the Chicago Fest . Director of Guatemala-u.S. road movie-thriller made "La Jaula De Oro" (The Golden Dream), a standout Latin American debut . Spain-born Mexican Diego Quemada-Diez is readying political thriller "Operacion Atlas" as he launches an Academy Award campaign for this feature . After immigration, "Operacion Atlas" takes another hot-button issue : Civil resistance to multinational corporation development projects backed by local governments – hydroelectric dams, massive deforestation and various fossil-fuel programs (oil, mining, fracking) – which is a recurrent narrative throughout Latin America .