Feet in the Sand (Pies in la Arena) is the first film in the three-part series Caribbean Eye: Auteur Cinema from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Caribbean Eye is part of the 2024 Fotofocus Biennial: backstories. The biennial theme, backstories, focuses on stories that are not evident at first glance. They offer context for what happened previously or out of view, providing narratives not yet told or presented from a new perspective. Once told, they shed light on current circumstances and events.
About Feet in the Sand:
Feet in the Sand, the new feature film by Puerto Rican director Gustavo Ramos Perales, comes after the success of his first film The Sparring Partner, one of the key films of what has been called New Puerto Rican Cinema. Feet in the Sand centers on the relationship between two immigrants in Puerto Rico in precarious situations, both struggling to consolidate their lives in a new country. Toña (Judith Rodriguez) has fled an abusive relationship in the Dominican Republic by taking a dangerous illegal sea voyage to Puerto Rico, and earned the right to stay there by marrying Luis. Gregorio (Eduardo Martinez Criado) is a Cuban doctor, trapped in Puerto Rico without a way to regularize his immigration status. When Luis suddenly dies just before Toña’s interview with Immigration to obtain her Green Card, she convinces Gregorio, who bears a striking resemblance to Luis, to impersonate him in the interview, a move that might solve both their problems. Feet in the Sand is a story of broken lives in a country in ruins where all that remains is the possibility of a future.
Director Gustavo Ramos Perales will be present to answer questions after the film.
About Caribbean Eye:
The Caribbean is the site of a dynamic new emerging film culture. In the last decade or so, Caribbean films by an exciting new generation of filmmakers have been winning prizes at international film festivals, finding more distribution than ever before, and surprising viewers around the world with stories that are new for international audiences. The films in the series Caribbean Eye: Auteur Cinema from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic tell stories we may not have not heard, and are set in places we may think we know but may not have really seen, using fresh approaches that will leave viewers with new images of the Caribbean and new ideas to think about.