Undertow (Contracorriente)
PERU’S SUBMISSION TO THE OSCARS!
This highly-acclaimed and hugely popular gay drama about a married fisherman in love with a gay artist is the winner of 39 film festival awards including the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and Best Film Awards at LGBT festivals in: Miami, Provincetown, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Vancouver, Austin, Memphis, Oslo, Long Beach, Atlanta, Rochester, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Montreal, Puerto Rico and Sao Paulo.
In a tiny Peruvian seaside village, where traditions run deep, Miguel (Cristian Mercado), a young fisherman, and his beautiful bride, Mariela (Tatiana Astengo), are about to welcome their first child. But Miguel harbors a scandalous secret. He’s in love with Santiago (Manolo Cardona), a painter, who is ostracized by the town because he’s gay. After a tragic accident occurs, Miguel must choose between sentencing Santiago to eternal torment or doing right by him and, in turn, revealing their relationship to Mariela—and the entire village. Written and directed by Javier Fuentes-León, and featuring a sizzling international cast, Undertow (Contracorriente) is rich in the details of legend, tradition, and locale; and it is in these details that the truth lies. Strikingly photographed to accentuate the majestic Peruvian coastline, this sexy, haunting love story transcends place and time. [Spanish with English subtitles]
Awards & Press Quotes
MASSIVE CRITICAL ACCLAIM!
- “Romantic… moving, bittersweet… Performances are first-rate.” – Variety
- “A modern-day fable…as beautiful as it is agonizing.” (Critic’s Pick) – Stephanie Merry, THE WASHINGTON POST
- “A small movie with a full heart…a fine feature debut. An effusive yet mournfully compromised happiness lingers, and it will haunt you.” — Manohla Dargis, NEW YORK TIMES
- “Lyrical, poignant…it quickly casts a seductive, sensual spell. A wholly unified work of art, suffused in an inviting atmosphere, incorporating supernatural elements with the greatest of ease, compelling storytelling and completely natural yet succinct, sympathetic portrayals. Gorgeous cinematography and a plaintive score complete the intuitively well-blended ingredients that constitute Undertow.” —Kevin Thomas, LOS ANGELES TIMES
- “This poetic gem about loss and the consequences of a passionate but hidden gay relationship in a tiny ocean-side village of modest fishermen deservedly won Sundance’s World Cinema Audience Award and represents Peru’s bid for an Oscar nom.” —Doris Toumarkine, FILM JOURNAL
- “Writer-director Javier Fuentes-Leon’s directorial debut…is sublime…a level of insightful psychological layering whose payoff might leave you weeping.” —Ernest Hardy, SF WEEKLY
- “…Gorgeous and heartbreaking.” —David Wiegand, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
- “…Lovely, lyrical, near-universally romantic, and ends on a quiet grace note that is bittersweet perfection.” — Dennis Harvey, SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN
WINNER OF 40+ AWARDS — INCLUDING 20 AUDIENCE AWARDS!
- Jury Award for Best Feature – Louisville LGBT Film Festival
- Sebastiane Award for Best LBGT Film – San Sebastian Int’l Film Festival
- Audience Award in World Dramatic Competition, Sundance Film Festival
- Audience Award in Official Competition, Cartagena Int’l Film Festival
- Audience Award in Iberoamerican Competition, Miami Int’l Film Festival
- Audience Award in Festivalissimo, Montreal Latin American Film Festival
- NAHCC Award to Best Hispanic Director – Nashville Film Festival
- Special Award for Originality of Vision – Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
- Audience Award – Chicago Latino Film Festival Latin Angel
- Audience Award – Utrecht Latin American Film Festival
- Latin Angel Youth Award – Utrecht Latin American Film Festival
- Jury Award for Best Film – Festival La Chimenea Verde, Villaverde, Madrid
- Audience Award, Best Narrative Feature – Provincetown Int’l Film Festival
- Mayor of Trencin Honorary Award – Slovakia ArtFilmFest
- Outstanding First Feature Jury Award – Frameline Film Festival
- Audience Award for Best First Feature – Galway International Film Festival, Ireland
- Special Programming Award for Artistic Achievement – OUTFEST, Los Angeles
- Jury Award for Best Feature Film – Qfest, Philadelphia
- Jury Award for Best Director – Qfest, Philadelphia
- Audience Choice Award, Vancouver Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
- Audience Award for Best Film – Lima Film Festival, Peru
- Audience Award for Best Peruvian Film – Lima Film Festival, Peru
- On-Line Audience Award for Best Film – Lima Film Festival, Peru
- On-Line Audience Award for Best First Feature Film – Lima Film Festival, Peru
- Narrative Feature Jury Award – Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival
- Audience Award for Best Foreign Film – Outflix Film Festival, Memphis
- First Jury Special Mention – New England Festival of Iberoamerican Cinema
- Jury Award for Best Feature Film – Skeive Filmer, Oslo, Norway
- Award for Best Film – Long Beach Q Film Festival
- Award for Best Director – Long Beach Q Film Festival
- Audience Award for Best Film – Cineamissí, Latin American Film Festival, Helsinki, Finland
- Audience Award for Best Overall Feature – Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
- Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature – ImageOut, Rochester
- Macondo Award for Best Supporting Actor, Colombian Academy of Film
- Audience Award for Favorite Men’s Feature Film – Pittsburgh Intnl Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
- Audience Award for Favorite Narrative Feature – Seattle Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
- Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature – Seattle Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
- Jury Prize for Best Feature Film — Image+Nation Film Festival, Montreal
- Audience Award — Puerto Rico Queer Film Festival
- Audience Award for Best Feature – Melbourne Queer Film Festival
