from press release
JOSÉ is a gripping, layered and beautifully honest story about one working class young man's struggle to find himself. Made in the neorealist filmmaking tradition, the film is a nuanced and vivid look at being gay in Central America. It opens on January 31, 2020 at New York City's Quad Cinema, with national dates to follow, including Los Angeles, Miami and San Diego.
A festival favorite, it was featured at Amnesty International and in over 70 leading international festivals. It was the first ever Central America film at Venice Festival, and won the Queer Lion Award beating other nominees The Favourite, Suspiria, and Memories of my Body. Other awards followed.
José (magnetic newcomer Enrique Salanic) lives with his mother (Ana Cecilia Mota) in Guatemala City, where they survive on her selling sandwiches at bus stops and with him working at a local restaurant. In this poor and sometimes dangerous country dominated by conservative Catholic and Evangelical Christian religion, living as an openly gay man is hard for José to imagine. His mother has never had a husband, and as her youngest and favorite son, on the edge of manhood at 19-years old, she is determined to hold on to him.
Reserved and private, José fills his free moments playing with random hook ups arranged on his phone apps and meeting in clandestine sex houses. When he meets the attractive and gentle Luis (Manolo Herrera), a migrant from the rural Caribbean coast, an unexpected romance blooms with more emotion than José has ever felt. As he is thrust into new passion and pain he is pushed into never before self-reflection. Will his reluctance to take a leap of faith lead to happiness?
Director Li Cheng (originally from China) and producer George F. Roberson (originally from the US) lived in Guatemala two years to make the film using all-Guatemalan cast and crew and all non-professional actors. Researched in the 20 largest Latin American cities (in 12 countries), they built the José story based on interviews with hundreds of young people about their hopes and dreams.
They restricted the story around answers to three key questions: which person are you closest to in your life? what’s your most unforgettable memory? have you been in love? Researched in a dozen Latin countries, and filmed in Guatemala due to extreme homophobia, and young population - half under age 19. To find the typical stories of the region, young people were interviewed about their hopes and dreams - about who they’re closest to in life, and about first love. Their project was sparked from anger and disappointment in the world situation today and the film emerges with hope in the new generation of young people poised to reshape the world in breathtaking ways.
The Cast
Enrique Salanic (José) – A graduate of the prestigious and unique Pearson College UWC in Victoria, BC, Canada, Enrique is ethnic Mayan, and speaks fluent English, Spanish and Maya Ki’che. He is pursuing his career as an actor, and lives with his family in a small rural agricultural village five hours away from Guatemala City. He also appeared in the pan-Central American film, Dias de Luz (Days of Light). This is his first lead role in a feature film.
Manolo Herrera (Luis) – Manolo studies art at Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, and performs in local theatre productions. He lives with his family in a modest neighborhood in Mixco, near Guatemala City. JOSÉ is his first feature film.
Ana Cecilia Mota (Jose’s mother) – A psychologist by training and profession, Ana lives with her three daughters in Guatemala City. Her oldest daughter, Jennifer, also plays her daughter in the film. JOSÉ is her first feature film debut.
The Filmmakers
Li Cheng (Director/Co-Writer/Co-Producer) – Born in China and now a U.S. citizen, Cheng quit biotech cancer research in 2007 to make films. He moved to Guatemala in 2016 to make his second feature film JOSÉ. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2018 winning the Queer Lion award. His first feature film JOSHUA TREE is about the crisis of the American dream, and a critique of the dominant culture. Cheng holds a PhD from Rutgers University, and currently lives in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
George F. Roberson (Co-Writer/Co-Producer) – JOSÉ is Roberson’s second film. He spent two years living in Guatemala to research and make it. A broadly trained and experienced academic and advocate, he was a Fulbright Scholar in Morocco, holds a PhD from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and has lived and worked in over sixty countries. He once hitchhiked across the Sahara desert to have a look. Roberson currently lives in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
JOSÉ is a gripping, layered and beautifully honest story about one working class young man's struggle to find himself. Made in the neorealist filmmaking tradition, the film is a nuanced and vivid look at being gay in Central America. It opens on January 31, 2020 at New York City's Quad Cinema, with national dates to follow, including Los Angeles, Miami and San Diego.
A festival favorite, it was featured at Amnesty International and in over 70 leading international festivals. It was the first ever Central America film at Venice Festival, and won the Queer Lion Award beating other nominees The Favourite, Suspiria, and Memories of my Body. Other awards followed.
José (magnetic newcomer Enrique Salanic) lives with his mother (Ana Cecilia Mota) in Guatemala City, where they survive on her selling sandwiches at bus stops and with him working at a local restaurant. In this poor and sometimes dangerous country dominated by conservative Catholic and Evangelical Christian religion, living as an openly gay man is hard for José to imagine. His mother has never had a husband, and as her youngest and favorite son, on the edge of manhood at 19-years old, she is determined to hold on to him.
Reserved and private, José fills his free moments playing with random hook ups arranged on his phone apps and meeting in clandestine sex houses. When he meets the attractive and gentle Luis (Manolo Herrera), a migrant from the rural Caribbean coast, an unexpected romance blooms with more emotion than José has ever felt. As he is thrust into new passion and pain he is pushed into never before self-reflection. Will his reluctance to take a leap of faith lead to happiness?
Director Li Cheng (originally from China) and producer George F. Roberson (originally from the US) lived in Guatemala two years to make the film using all-Guatemalan cast and crew and all non-professional actors. Researched in the 20 largest Latin American cities (in 12 countries), they built the José story based on interviews with hundreds of young people about their hopes and dreams.
They restricted the story around answers to three key questions: which person are you closest to in your life? what’s your most unforgettable memory? have you been in love? Researched in a dozen Latin countries, and filmed in Guatemala due to extreme homophobia, and young population - half under age 19. To find the typical stories of the region, young people were interviewed about their hopes and dreams - about who they’re closest to in life, and about first love. Their project was sparked from anger and disappointment in the world situation today and the film emerges with hope in the new generation of young people poised to reshape the world in breathtaking ways.
The Cast
Enrique Salanic (José) – A graduate of the prestigious and unique Pearson College UWC in Victoria, BC, Canada, Enrique is ethnic Mayan, and speaks fluent English, Spanish and Maya Ki’che. He is pursuing his career as an actor, and lives with his family in a small rural agricultural village five hours away from Guatemala City. He also appeared in the pan-Central American film, Dias de Luz (Days of Light). This is his first lead role in a feature film.
Manolo Herrera (Luis) – Manolo studies art at Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, and performs in local theatre productions. He lives with his family in a modest neighborhood in Mixco, near Guatemala City. JOSÉ is his first feature film.
Ana Cecilia Mota (Jose’s mother) – A psychologist by training and profession, Ana lives with her three daughters in Guatemala City. Her oldest daughter, Jennifer, also plays her daughter in the film. JOSÉ is her first feature film debut.
The Filmmakers
Li Cheng (Director/Co-Writer/Co-Producer) – Born in China and now a U.S. citizen, Cheng quit biotech cancer research in 2007 to make films. He moved to Guatemala in 2016 to make his second feature film JOSÉ. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2018 winning the Queer Lion award. His first feature film JOSHUA TREE is about the crisis of the American dream, and a critique of the dominant culture. Cheng holds a PhD from Rutgers University, and currently lives in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
George F. Roberson (Co-Writer/Co-Producer) – JOSÉ is Roberson’s second film. He spent two years living in Guatemala to research and make it. A broadly trained and experienced academic and advocate, he was a Fulbright Scholar in Morocco, holds a PhD from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and has lived and worked in over sixty countries. He once hitchhiked across the Sahara desert to have a look. Roberson currently lives in Sao Paulo, Brazil.