“This harrowing, pulse-pounding thriller, shot entirely in Mexico by young American hotshot director Cary Joji Fukunaga, looks like the debut film of the year.” — Salon.com. Best Director, Sundance Film Festival.
This astonishing debut feature announces the arrival of a lavishly gifted filmmaker.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2009
Sin Nombre 2009
“This harrowing, pulse-pounding thriller, shot entirely in Mexico by young American hotshot director Cary Joji Fukunaga, looks like the debut film of the year.” — Andrew O'Hehir, salon.com
“This modest epic of immigration is heightened by the brilliant filmmaking of the director Cary Joji Fukunaga. The drama – featuring interwoven stories about Honduran teenagers trying to emigrate to the US by any means necessary (and ultimately facing off with Mexican gangs who rob and kill illegal immigrants on their way north) – is so vividly constructed that it achieves an almost thriller-like urgency. The cast of young, unknown actors is a gifted wild bunch, and the performances are rooted in a naturalistic display of emotions that never feels forced. The film is sometimes dark and brutal, but it has a measure of grace and classical composition that carry the story along to a moving conclusion.” — Bruce Diones, New Yorker