The Shadow of the Sun (Sombra del Sol), Venezuela’s submission for this year’s International Feature Film Oscar, is a heartwarming crowd-pleaser featuring stellar lead performances from Carlos Manuel Gonzalez and Anyelo Lopez. The two play somewhat unlikely brothers looking for a way out of their stifling small-town lives. The film stumbles in a couple of key places, but it brings to life a cast of compelling characters and paints a moving portrait of the difficult realities of contemporary life in Venezuela.
Giving this film the platform of an Oscar run could provide its talents, especially star Gonzalez, with a deserved international stage. It could also earn the film comparisons with the Oscar-winning Coda (a remake of the French film La Famille Bélier). The press materials highlight that the making of this film created nearly 200 jobs in Venezuela and employed six deaf actors among its cast members.
Read the full review at AWFJ.org
Image courtesy of 42 West
