1/20

a film by Gerardo del Castillo

starring Ayako Ibaraki & Ilfenesh Hadera

original screenplay by Matthue Roth

Xiomara is stuck in a suburban world she hates. Her mother is dead, her father is a zoned-out internethead, and her only escape is taking the train into DC to run wild with her best friend. She might be gay (but she isn't sure). She might run away (but she hasn't decided yet). And she might

In her travels, Xiomara stumbles across both the untamed South and the fast-paced urban nightlife of the North. She meets a redneck couple who's not at all what they seem to be. She meets a man who can use math to discover what people are thinking, and he's looking for the few people who can still surprise him. And she stumbles into a Motown punk-rock concert, where all the joy and freakishness of youth and rebellion and America come together in one frantic last dance.

The Background

In early 2009, I was approached by Culo Malo Producciones, a Barcelona-based production company, to write a movie. They weren't very specific about what they wanted -- only that they wanted to make a movie about the election of Barack Obama that didn't give it a positive or negative spin.

The film stars Ayako Ibaraki, Ilfenesh Hadera, Will Shepherd, Kayla Dempsey, Sawyer Novak, and Andrea Goldman. Music by Against Me!, Can!!Can, and some other folks.