Release Date: May 16
Director/Writer: Christopher Zalla
Cinematographer: Igor Martinovic
Starring: Jorge Adrian Espíndola, Armando Hernández, Jesus Ochoa, Paola Mendoza
Studio/Run Time: IFC, 110 mins.
Gripping film explores avarice and generosity on Brooklyn’s mean streets
Fusing a bit of Shakespearean mistaken identity with Biblical tales of greed and redemption, writer/director Christopher Zalla’s first feature couldn’t come at a better time—it’s not politically charged like other recent illegal-immigration films (La Misma Luna, The Visitor), and its tight storyline plays to a wider audience than similar New York City-ghetto film Chop Shop.
In Sangre de mi Sangre, protagonist Pedro is smuggled into a New York City-bound truck full of immigrants. There, he confides in affable fellow migrant Juan about plans to find his long-lost father. When he’s unceremoniously emptied into a Brooklyn alley, Pedro (Espíndola) discovers that his bag has been lifted, along with a letter from his dead mother containing his father’s address. Meanwhile, Juan (Hernández) has craftily begun to impersonate Pedro in search of Pedro’s father’s fortune.
Well-acted and gripping, Sangre de mi Sangre—which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance—augurs well for Zalla’s career.