The Wolves (Los Lobos)

Mexico, USA 2019, for children aged 9+ (in Spanish, English and Cantonese with Slovenian subtitles)
Screenplay: Samuel Kishi Leopo, Sofía Gómez Córdoba, Luis Briones 
Cinematograhpy: Octavio Arauz
Music: Kenji Kishi Leopo 
Editing: Yordi Capó, Carlos Espinoza Benítez, Samuel Kishi Leopo 
Cast: Martha Reyes Arias (Lucía), Maximiliano Nájar Márquez (Max), Leonardo Nájar Márquez (Leo), Cici Lau (Mrs. Chan), Johnson T. Lau (Mr. Chan)
Distribution: Demiurg


An imaginatively told, brutally honest and yet poetic emigration story about the desires of children and worries of adults, The Wolves won Generation Kplus Grand Prix of the International Jury at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival.

Together with their mother Lucia, the brothers Max and Leo have just crossed the border from Mexico into the United States in search of a better life. And they share a dream as well: To visit Disneyland one day. But it is not easy for them to gain a foothold in their new home. While Lucía tries to finance their new life by doing odd jobs, the two brothers spend their days in their one-room flat building an imaginary universe with their drawings and thinking about mom's promise of going to Disneyland. The walls of the room, which they are forbidden to leave, become a projection screen for imaginative adventures and open a window on their new life.

“The Wolves emerges from the hazy images of my memories in order to tell a story about childhood, uncertainty, migration, a family’s reintegration, the adaptation to new surroundings and the meaning of home. It was very important to me to draw on the stories and experiences of the migrant community in Albuquerque for the production of this film. I intended to paint a portrait by mixing both fictional and documentary elements and compositing fictional characters atop actual locals, their surroundings and the multiculturalism that has built a thriving migrant community.” (Samuel Kishi Leopo)