7/10
Interesting and provoking Mexican/Spanish/Guatemala co-production about three teen immigrants and their journey to the U.S.
2 January 2016
A strong road movie dealing with three boys , Juan : Brandon López , Sara : Karen Martínez , Samuel : Carlos Chajon , they are three teenagers from the slums of Guatemala, all of them travel to the United States in search of a better life . On their journey since Guatemala through Mexico , they meet Chauk : Rodolfo Domínguez , an Indian from Chiapas who doesn't speak Spanish . Along the way they suffer famine , attacks , robbing and many other things .

This is a thought-provoking and hard movie with very powerful moments concerning about three teenagers traveling together in freight trains and walking on railroad tracks , but they soon have to face a harsh reality . "Jaula" tracks three teens , one a young Tzxotzil native, from Guatemala across the length of Mexico as they dodge migration cops , clash with gangs and travel on train-tops to a white-knuckle climax on the U.S.-Mexico border . It is a groundbreaking film about a teenager's decision to move to United States and leave everything that he has behind to start a new life in the pursuit of the American Dream . Crossing countries they learn that the American Dream is not easily acquired and maybe and impossibility to attain for some , and they are forced to make some tough choices . The screenplay manages to give some brief laughs from the audience and some romantic elements that you never loose your attention from the film . The picture has a brilliant and evocative cinematography by María Secco who shows splendidly the colorful South American outdoors . Furthermore , a sensitive musical score by Jacobo Lieberman , including attractive Latinas songs . The film was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival -Un Certain Regard Official Selection-, winning Un Certain Talent Award, Gillo Pontecorvo Award and François Chalais Special Mention Award . In its Mexican premiere at the Morelia Film Festival, as the picture won three awards: Audience Award, Best First Film and Press Guerrero Award .

The motion picture was compellingly directed by Diego Quemada whose first version of the movie was about 2 and a half hours ; being his first long-feature film . Diego was born in the Iberian Peninsula , Burgos , Castilla . He has lived in the American continent for the past two decades , being nationalized Mexican . His first job in the film industry was in 1995, in Ken Loach's film Land and Freedom as a camera assistant to the director of cinematography . Diego went on working as a camera operator assistant in known titles as : Gone in Sixty Seconds , Man on fire , The lost son , 21 grams , Any Given Sunday , The constant gardener , among others . His graduation film at the American Film Institute (AFI) as writer/director/ was : A Table is a Table . He also shot several shorts . Diego then stepped up in scale with his feature debut "The Golden Cage" , this immigration drama that swept the 2014 Ariel Awards snagging nine kudos , the talent prize at Cannes' Un Certain Regard and a Gold Hugo at the Chicago Fest . Director of Guatemala-u.S. road movie-thriller made "La Jaula De Oro" (The Golden Dream), a standout Latin American debut . Spain-born Mexican Diego Quemada-Diez is readying political thriller "Operacion Atlas" as he launches an Academy Award campaign for this feature . After immigration, "Operacion Atlas" takes another hot-button issue : Civil resistance to multinational corporation development projects backed by local governments – hydroelectric dams, massive deforestation and various fossil-fuel programs (oil, mining, fracking) – which is a recurrent narrative throughout Latin America .
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