I Carry You with Me

Puebla, the mid nineties. That's where 'I Carry You with Me' begins, the first fiction feature from Heidi Ewing, who had spent two decades making documentaries and earned an Oscar nomination for 'Jesus Camp', co-directed with Rachel Grady. This time she tells the true story of two of her friends, Iván and Gerardo, and she tells it halfway between drama and documentary.

Iván (Armando Espitia) wants to be a chef, but in Mexico a kitchen job can take years to come up, and he's still waiting for his at the restaurant where he works. He has a young son, Ricky, and a deeply traditional family that knows nothing about his private life. One night, at an underground gay bar, he meets Gerardo (Christian Vázquez), a teacher who doesn't hide who he is. The connection is instant, and risky: if anyone finds out, Iván could lose his son.

The film moves between that secret romance and both men's childhoods, shaped by families who punished any sign that they were different. When the pressure gets too much, Iván decides to cross the border on foot with his friend Sandra (Michelle Rodríguez) and try his luck in New York. His memories of those years sit alongside footage of the real couple, which Ewing shot over several years with her own camera.

Ewing knew Iván and Gerardo from a neighbourhood bar on salsa night, but she didn't hear their whole story until 2012, when they joined her at Sundance for the premiere of 'Detropia'. Eight years later 'I Carry You with Me' premiered at the same festival and won both the Audience Award and the Innovator Award in the NEXT section. The pandemic held up its release, and Sony Pictures Classics finally opened it in US cinemas on 25 June 2021. Co-written with Alan Page Arriaga and shot in Puebla, Mexico City and New York, it also stars Ángeles Cruz and Arcelia Ramírez. Critics gave it warm reviews.

• Drama
• LGTB