Don't Let Me Drown

At the center of Cruz Angeles’s touching first feature are Lalo and Stefanie, two high-school kids living in Brooklyn. Lalo comes from a Mexican immigrant family that struggles financially. His father, formerly a janitor at the World Trade Center, now works at Ground Zero cleaning up debris. Stefanie’s family moved back to Brooklyn after her sister was killed in the attacks. While her mother tries to hold the family together, her father’s emotions have no outlet but anger. Lalo and Stefanie meet at a birthday party, and although they start off on the wrong foot, the ice melts, and their budding friendship becomes a clandestine romance. Down Let Me Drown features an elegantly simple story, layered characters, and standout performances, notably from its young leads. The director's approach feels intuitive and brings a refreshing spontaneity to the story. He clearly knows everything about his characters and creates an authenticity that brings out both their emotions and humor. The character interactions seem so slight, couched mostly in everyday, often-funny situations, but gradually the film accrues weight. The textures of the city and the lives of ordinary people are shaded with a wistful sense of struggle, but the fabric of the film is woven from compassion. We care about these characters because they care about each other: that’s how they keep their heads above water.
CAST
E.J. Bonilla, Gleendilys Inoa, Damián Alcázar, Ricardo Antonio Chavira, Gina Torres, Yareli Arizmendi

Cruz Angeles - Brooklyn-based filmmaker Cruz Angeles is making his feature-film directorial debut with Don't Let Me Drown. He participated as a directing and writing fellow at the 2005 Sundance Institute Filmmakers Lab. He is also an Annenberg Foundation film fellow and a recipient of the 2006 NHK/Sundance International Filmmakers Award. As an alumna of NYU's graduate film program, Cruz garnered various awards for his student short films, including a Directors Guild of America Award.

Screenings:

Sun. Jan 18 12:15 p.m. - DONTL18CD Eccles Theatre, Park City
Mon. Jan 19 11:15 a.m. - DONTL19RD Racquet Club, Park City
Wed. Jan 21 5:30 p.m. - DONTL21LE Library Center Theatre, Park City
Thu. Jan 22 noon - DONTL22SD Screening Room, Sundance Resort
Fri. Jan 23 6:00 p.m. - DONTL23BE Broadway Centre Cinemas VI, SLC
Sat. Jan 24 8:30 a.m. - DONTL24RM Racquet Club, Park City