Meet the Filmmaker, via Skype: director Ira Sachs
Jake and Tony are two middle school boys from very different backgrounds whose paths cross in Brooklyn: Jake, is from an upscale family, and Tony, a working class Latino who is being raised mostly by his mother, Leonor. Leonor runs a dress shop in a building owned by Jakes’s late grandfather. When Jake’s father Brian inherits the building, the pressure is on to raise the rent, threatening Leonor and Tony’s stability. Despite the acrimony between the adults, the film is really the story of the burgeoning close friendship between Jake and Tony.
2016, USA, 85 minutes, rated PG
“Sachs’ approach is so humane, and his characters so fully rendered, that an agenda never announces itself; instead, Sachs’ worldview seeps into you. He’s that skilled a film-maker.” – Nigel M. Smith, The Guardian
“By the end, Sachs has raised urgent questions about immigration, classism, gentrification, loyalty, family and nascent sexuality – but he’s done so utterly organically, via 10 square feet of city. Lovely.” – Johanna Schneller, The Globe and Mail
“Sachs, a clear-eyed humanist, honors all his characters’ pained perspectives.” – Alan Scherstuhl, The Village Voice
