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 ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (ESL)

Director: Youssef Delara

The film is about the "American dream" which is something that many Latinos want to achieve,  "English as a Second Language" or, in its short form "ESL" (2005). In this beautiful drama from Director Youssef Delara, starring Kuno Becker, Danielle Camastra, María Conchita Alonso and John Michael Higgins.  

He recounts the experiences of Bolívar De la Cruz (Kuno Becker), who leaves his wife pregnant in his native Mexico, to seek luck in the United States as an illegal labor force.  The key is to learn English and the community center teaches it to you.
The teacher's assistant Lola Sara (Danielle Camastra) is there for community service, Lola is a young party girl  with which you will learn that there are things more important than money. An interesting friendship is born between the two, adorned with a strong sexual attraction.

Bolívar begins working in a night club as an exotic dancer, and is abused and denigrated by his boss, who forces him to do private dances for both men and women, paying him a pittance for it. However, to Bolívar it seems like a great deal of money. Out of embarrassment at his job, he lies to his wife about work.  The "American dream" begins to consume him.
 
On the other hand, Lola is a tireless partygoer, with innumerable existential voids, without any connection with her mother.  Consuelo (María Conchita Alonso), whom he sees rather as an enemy and at the same time is afraid of disappointing her parents who expect her to be a lawyer.  

Another theme that this film touches on is abortion, offering a different perspective than killing a life unjustifiably.  

María Conchita Alonso arrived for the second time in the Dominican Republic to participate in the ninth installment of the Santo Domingo International Film Festival  (UASD - IX Film Festival)  which started on February 23, 2007 in the Manuel del Cabral auditorium of the Pedro Mir library of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, to present this film.

This time  He received the Gran Cemí, the International Film Festival trophy, as a tribute to his career in film.  The trophy was presented to him by Omar Narpier, Festival Director, in the presence of Karina Narpier, Program Director, and Verónica Sención.

 

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