ROMANTICO

Night after night, Carmelo and his friend Arturo play mariachi music in restaurants and on the streets of San Francisco. Like many illegal Mexican immigrants, they send what little money they make home to support their families. But with his mother slowly succumbing to diabetes and his daughters growing up rapidly, Carmelo decides to return to Salvatierra, Mexico. He will still play his beautiful music, but now for much less money.

ROMANTICO is much more than a film about mariachi music. It paints a picture of the unequal standards of living in two neighboring nations. Work is very hard to find in Carmelo's hometown, and as miserable and hard as his life was in the States, at least from there he could afford to support his family. As he considers going back to the States, he finds that it is not as easy as it used to be to cross the border, legally or illegally, especially for a 60-year-old man.

Mark Becker set out to make a short film about two Mexican musicians in the US, but when Carmelo returned to Mexico, Becker felt compelled to go along and document his homecoming. He uncovered a story about sacrificing money for family. Beautifully shot on 16mm film, ROMANTICO captures the vibrant colors and sounds of a small town in Mexico and the joy and pain that come with living a simple, unassuming life.

Mary Kerr

Mark Becker works as a documentary filmmaker, editor and cinematographer. His film JULES AT EIGHT has been broadcast on PBS and won awards from the International Documentary Association and the Student Academy Awards. He co-edited THE LOST BOYS OF SUDAN and THE BEGINNING, a feature-length documentary about George Lucas. Raised in Needham, MA, Becker has a Masters Degree from the Documentary film program at Stanford University. Becker and his wife and daughter make their home in New York City.

Print Source:
Mark Becker, Meteor Films
241 6th Ave, Apt 2B
New York, NY 10014
Tel: 212.675.3924
Email: mark@meteorfilms.org

Wednesday 6/15 at 9:30 p.m.
Thursday 6/16 at 4:45 p.m.

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