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"Some sort of political version of a Beckett play … suggests something like a minimalist remake of The Hurt Locker, perhaps directed by Jon Jost." – Film Comment
Taking viewers from the USA/Mexican border to the battlegrounds of the Middle East, Soy Nero is a breathtakingly shot widescreen exploration of modern-day immigration and warfare, and the diminishing point where the two intersect.
Directed by Rafi Pitts (The Hunter, MIFF 2010; It's Winter, MIFF 2005) and co-written by Razvan Radulescu (Child's Pose, MIFF 2013; The Death of Mr Lazarescu, MIFF 2008; 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, MIFF 2007), the film follows Mexican youth Nero as he yearns to return to California, where he was born before eventually being deported. After several failed attempts, Nero finally crosses the heavily armed border and journeys to Los Angeles to find his brother. Their reunion is short-lived, however: forced to volunteer for the military in order to obtain a green card, Nero is cast into a desert landscape embroiled in conflict and death, and he must fight for his citizenship with weaponry not words.
With its distinguished behind-the-scenes pedigree, and spacious score courtesy of minimalist composer Rhys Chatham, Soy Nero is a considered, contemporary tale of borders – geographical, physical and psychological – and how to cross them.
"An existential odyssey pitched somewhere between realism and abstract allegory ... very watchable." – BFI
