Following its international premiere at the 72nd Cannes International Film Festival and subsequent theatrical run, the second film directed by Gael García Bernal Chicuarotes (2019) makes its worldwide debut on Netflix on June 25, 2020, except in the US.
“If we take a look at film distribution ten years ago, it was a completely different landscape than what we see today. Back then, people from all over the world had to embark on labyrinthine quests in order to access films that weren’t shot originally in English. Nowadays, with an online streaming subscription, it’s entirely possible for anyone to get a glimpse into the reality experienced by the characters of Chicuarotes through a film,” said Gael García Bernal.
The film, written by Augusto Mendoza and starring Benny Emmanuel, Gabriel Carbajal, Leidi Gutiérrez, Dolores Heredia and Daniel Giménez Xacho, was shot in San Gregorio Atlapulco, a township located in the Xochimilco district in Mexico City. People from that area are commonly referred to as “chichuarote.”
Chicuarotes follows Cagalera (Benny Emmanuel) and Moloteco (Gabriel Carbajal), two young men from San Gregorio who are trying to get away from the oppressive circumstances they live in. When they hear about a life-changing opening in the electrician’s guild that’s up for sale, they delve deep into the dark criminal underworld of Mexico City in an attempt to buy their freedom. “Thanks to this film, a lot of people were able to discover the amazing place that is San Gregorio Atlapulco –faithful keeper of Mexico City’s secrets– where a pair of young men who have grown up deprived of love search for a way to escape towards a more promising future,” García Bernal added.
In closing, the director stated: “It’s important to see and understand young people’s hopelessness in order to shine a light into the causes of the violence that assails our current society. Now that the film will live on in several platforms, we can watch it again and again so that audiences can draw their own conclusions about the hypothesis we set out to articulate with this film.”
The feature film is dedicated to the young people in San Gregorio and adjacent towns.
Chicuarotes is a production from La Corriente del Golfo and Cinematográfica Amaranto, in co-production with Televisa and Pulse Films.