‘I Carry You With Me’ Trailer Drops, International Feature May Rep Mexico in Oscar Race

Clayton Davis
·2 min read

Sony Pictures Classics has released the first trailer for “I Carry You With Me” (“Te Llevo Conmigo”) from Heidi Ewing.

After premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in January, the pic is one of Mexico’s major hopefuls for the best international feature race at this year’s Academy Awards. The film won the audience and innovator awards at the Park City, Utah, festival.

Written by Ewing and Alan Page Arriaga, the movie tells the story of young, aspiring chef Iván (played remarkably by Armando Espitia), who works at a restaurant and dreams of being able to cook while supporting the mother of his child. After meeting a teacher named Gerardo (Christian Vazquez), who is an out gay man, the two develop an instant connection. This love causes Iván to make the dangerous and perilous journey to cross the border to find a life that can help him achieve his culinary dreams, his forbidden love and his chance at fatherhood.

Ewing, who has directed many acclaimed documentaries, including the Oscar-nominated “Jesus Camp,” makes her first leap into narrative filmmaking. She began the project as a documentary portrait of real-life subjects Iván and Gerardo, but then decided to cast actors to play the two men in reenactments of their early lives — both as children and adults. One of the rare films to utilize both documentary and narrative storytelling, the film’s trailer highlights how effective the blend is throughout its unveiling. It is also one of the very few films in contention for awards this year that features Latino actors, as both Espitia and Vazquez’s performances are worthy of Academy consideration.

“I Carry You With Me” is currently screening at the 58th New York Film Festival and is set for a theatrical release on Jan. 8.

Watch the trailer below:

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