BFI Flare 2019: José

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BFI FLARE

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"José is 19, lives in Guatemala with his mother and is employed to hustle customers at a roadside cafe. The grim realities of inner city life – the struggle to keep body and soul together, along with the perils of petty crime – might drag a lesser man down. But not optimistic and sexually promiscuous José. Then he meets Luis, a construction worker from out of town. The bond they immediately feel suggests to José that, finally, he might have met the one. Winner of the Queer Lion at the Venice Film Festival, this passionate and emotionally engaging story is an affecting tale of desire, but also of rebelling against societal conventions, macho attitudes and the strictures of religion. It’s also a rare portrait of gay life in contemporary Guatemala." BFI Flare

Over the past few years, some of the best features at BFI Flare have been from Latin America - Brazil's Hard Paint (BFI Flare 2018), Argentina's Marilyn (BFI Flare 2018), Brazil's Body Electric (BFI Flare 2017), Chile's Jesús (BFI Flare 2017), and going back to 2016, Venezuela's From Afar.

Add Guatemala's José to that list of winners.

Director Li Cheng interviewed gay and marginalised youth from across Latin America before deciding to set his film in Guatemala, where he felt the need for this story was most urgent. For those of us fortunate enough to live in relatively safe metropolises like London and San Francisco, the plight of gay men - particularly young gay men - in countries like Guatemala is almost unimaginable. Films like José bridge this gap.

Enrique Salanic, not a professional thesp, is a revelation as the titular José, his performance subdued, naturalistic. We stay with him, through the highs and lows, often in tight tracking shots, and at other times, spying our protagonist from afar, a lonely figure in the urban hellscape.

The film closes with an affecting scene at some Mayan ruins (Salanic himself is of Mayan descent), that will guarantee José a place in your heart.

READ ALL MY REVIEWS FROM BFI FLARE

KAOS reports every year from the annual
BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival.