Summer White (Blanco de Verano)

Institute History

  • 2020 Sundance Film Festival

Description

Rodrigo is an introverted 13-year-old who spends much of his time alone—except when he is with his mother, Valeria, who happens to be his best friend, his protector, and his entire world. Rodrigo believes their relationship is intimate and anchored in trust, until one morning he wakes up to a stranger in the house: Fernando, his mother’s new boyfriend, who had spent the night. Immediately Rodrigo’s domain is completely disrupted, and he is left with no choice but to fight back and reconstruct the solace he once had.

A new and distinctive voice of Mexican independent cinema, writer/director Rodrigo Ruiz Patterson offers an outstanding debut that dives into a complex story of a boy coming of age as he grapples with sharing his mother’s love for the first time. Propelled by intimate yet powerful performances from Adrián Rossi as Rodrigo, Sophie Alexander-Katz as Valeria, and Fabián Corres as Fernando, Summer White (Blanco de Verano) builds a psychological, testosterone-driven battle between a man perceived as an intruder and a child testing his limits.

— D.B.

Screening Details

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