TIJUANA MAKES ME HAPPY
by Dylan Verrechia
However, Jhonny can't afford the rooster, and instead buys his son an evening with Brianda (Darina Rabago Soto), a teenage prostitute. While Indio and Brianda strike up a brief romance, he's not about to give up his ambitions of training a winning rooster, and takes whatever odd jobs he can find to help raise the cash -- everything from washing cars to working as a drug mule.
TIJUANA MAKES ME HAPPY won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature at the 2007 Slamdance Film Festival, and the Indie Max Award at the 2007 San Antonio Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, The New York Times
Director / Writer / Producer: Dylan Verrechia
Writer / Producer / Director of Photography / Editor: James Lefkowitz
Cast: Pablo Tendilla Ortiz, Pablo Tendilla Rocha, Aidee Gonzalez, Raúl Rodriguez, Sacramento Hernández, Darina Rabago Soto, Luis Carmona Arochi
Music by: Pepe Mogt & Nortec Collective
Sound Mixers: Julio Molina & Leonardo Costa-Gomes
© 25th Frame / Palenque Filmaciones, 72', Mexico / USA, 2007
212 671 2522
OFFICIAL SELECTION
The Goethe Institute
Roxie Theater, San Francisco, Aug 17th, 2008
El Festivalito
Guatemala, Jun 28th, 2008
Indie 2007
São Paulo, Brazil, Nov 29th - Dec 6th, 2007
NewFilmmakers
Anthology Film Archive, New York, NY, Nov 14th, 2007
Lone Star International Film Festival
Fort Worth, TX, Nov 7th - 11th, 2007
Festival Cultural de la Ciudad de Tijuana
México, Oct 30th - Nov 3rd, 2007
Indie World Film Festival
Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Oct 5th - 11th, 2007
Festival de Cine de Bogota
Colombia, Oct 3rd - 11th, 2007
Oldenburg International Film Festival
Germany, Sep 12th - 16th, 2007
Temecula Valley Int'l Film and Music Festival
CA, Sep 12th - 16th, 2007
True West Cinema Festival
Boise, ID, Aug 9th -12th, 2007
San Antonio Film Festival - Indie Max Award
TX, Jun 22nd - 24th, 2007
Blue Mountain Film Festival
Ontario, Canada, Jun 1st - 3rd, 2007
DiBa Film Festival
Barcelona, Spain, May 17th - 27th, 2007
Arizona International Film Festival
Tucson, AZ, Apr 20th - 29th, 2007
Atlanta Film Festival
Atlanta, GA, Apr 19th - 28th, 2007
Poland Film Festival
Cracow, Poland, Apr 19th-22nd, 2007
Cine Las Americas
Austin, TX, Apr 16th - 26th, 2007
IFC Center
New York, NY, Feb 13th, 2007
Slamdance Film Festival - Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature
Park City, UT, Janu 18th - 27th, 2007
XXI Cine Latino de Trieste
Italy, Oct 24th - 29th, 2006
Baja California Film Festival
CECUT, Tijuana, Mexico, Sep 19th - 24th, 2006
Museum of Contemporary Art of San Diego
San Diego, CA, Jun 15th, 2006
Cine Mexico Film Festival
The Loft Cinema, Tucson, AZ, Feb 18th, 2006
Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival
CA, Oct 21st - 30th, 2005
Cannes Film Market
France, May 12th - 15th 2005
PRESS
New York Times: A young man will go to any lengths to make his dream come true in this independent drama from writer and director Dylan Verrechia. (read more...)
Moviefone: A young man will go to any lengths to make his dream come true in this independent drama from writer and director Dylan Verrechia. Indio (Pablo Tendilla Ortiz) is growing up with a poor family in the Mexican border town of Tijuana. Cockfighting is still a popular and lucrative sport in Tijuana, and Indio thinks he has what it takes to train a champion bird. As a present for his fifteenth birthday, Indio asks his father Jhonny (Pablo Tendilla Rocha) to get him a rooster that's up for sale from a local breeder who has helped spawn some winning birds. However, Jhonny can't afford the rooster, and instead buys his son an evening with Brianda (Darina Rabago Soto), a teenage prostitute. While Indio and Brianda strike up a brief romance, he's not about to give up his ambitions of training a winning rooster, and takes whatever odd jobs he can find to help raise the cash -- everything from washing cars to working as a drug mule. Tijuana Makes Me Happy received its premiere at the 2007 Slamdance Film Festival, where it received the Jury Prize for Best Dramatic Feature. - Mark Deming, Rovi (read more...)
Variety: "Tijuana Makes Me Happy" is an example of nuevo-realism, with nonprofessionals cast in a semi-documentary-style dramedy shot on location in and around Tijuana. (...) The unaffected quality is genuinely impressive across the board. Pablo Tendilla Ortiz is an artlessly engaging screen presence as Indio, the pic's young protagonist. (read more...)
Adam Donaghey on IMDB: A charming coming-of-age film with fantastic shots of the 'real' Mexico. (read more...)
IFC Center: I was rejuvenated when I left the IFC Center in New York City after seeing Tijuana Makes Me Happy, directed by Dylan Verrechia and produced by James Lefkowitz, which won the Grand Jury prize for Best Narrative Feature at Slamdance in Park City this year. A coming-of-age story about a young boy growing to manhood in Playas de Tijuana, Verrechia and Lefkowitz's film is an invigorating fusion of fiction and reality that rises to the challenge of powerful storytelling and fun, innovative film-making. (...) That Verrechia and Lefkowitz have succeeded in creating a universally appealing Tijuana-based tale at a time when the American government and countless citizens regularly denounce people from south of the border is an accomplishment and a contribution. (read more...)
A young man will go to any lengths to make his dream come true in this independent drama from writer and director Dylan Verrechia.
Indio (Pablo Tendilla Ortiz) is growing up with a poor family in the Mexican border town of Tijuana. Cockfighting is still a popular and lucrative sport in Tijuana, and Indio thinks he has what it takes to train a champion bird. As a present for his fifteenth birthday, Indio asks his father Jhonny (Pablo Tendilla Rocha) to get him a rooster that's up for sale from a local breeder who has helped spawn some winning birds.
WINNER
BEST FEATURE FILM
Slamdance
Film Festival
2007
WINNER
INDIE MAX AWARD
San Antonio
Film Festival
2007
