Fleeing retaliation from the violent Central American street gang they have deserted, young hoods Casper and Smiley board a northbound train, where they take refuge on top of the moving freight cars and hope for a fresh start in a new country. Dodging authorities and other dangers, the two find a new friend in Sayra (Paulina Gaitan), a Honduran girl also making a run for the American border. Cary Fukunaga directs this exciting thriller. —Netflix
Cary Joji Fukunaga (born July 10, 1977) is an American film director, writer and cinematographer. Fukunaga was born in Oakland, California, has lived in France, Japan and Mexico City, and now resides in New York City. His father is Japanese and his mother is Swedish. Fukunaga graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a BA in History in 1999 and attended Institut d’études politiques (IEP) de Grenoble, and New York University in the Graduate Film Program. He has received several grants including a USA Rockefeller Foundation Fellowhship, the John H. Johnson Film Award, a Princess Grace Foundation Fellowship, and a Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Bursary. In addition to English, he is fluent in French and Spanish.
Fukunaga wrote and directed the short film Victoria para Chino (2004) while at NYU, which screened at the Sundance Film Festival and received a Student Academy Award in 2005. He made his feature film debut with Sin Nombre. It has also been announced that… read more
Sin Nombre = "nameless". Tale of youth who dare to break free of conformities of gang community and a life bound nowhere. Tragedy strikes when one attempts an escape from ruthless "homies." Tough, touching, and sensitive.
I had no idea this was directed by an American film maker. Interesting. And absolutely brilliant. Heartbreakingly real from what I know of MS13 and the Immigration status between Mexico and the US...my husband made that journey from Mexico City...and believe me not everyone does make it, even when they don't have La Mata after them. This film stayed with me for days. Brilliant acting, excellent film.
What an incredible journey, a colorful and violent "road" movie. It's seldom that a movie commands your attention and empathy from beginning to end. Every shot is drenched with character emotion. Every frame takes us into the world of immigrants, travelers and gang members- of fathers and daughters and brothers. "Sin Nombre" is an unsettling celluloid poem depicting both suffering and enduring hope.
Above: Laetitia Guerard and Leora Barbara in Sylvie Verheyde's Stella (Verheyde, France). "It's never too soon // To tread the boardsI was
One of the problems with being a film fan is that you have seen a lot of films so you begin to see films influenced or downright steal scenes, plots and characters from other films you see twists coming… read review
Not by the hand of God, but by that of the devil. No truer words could be spoken when concerning young Sayra’s journey from Honduras to America in the film Sin Nombre. Here is a movie that lives up… read review
First time director Cary Fukunaga won Best Director at the Sundance Film Festival for this excellent thriller, shot in Mexico, about a young man escaping north from his brutal street gang after a betrayal… read review