Josh Soskin
This summer the immigration crisis hit a feverish high with tens of thousands of women and children crossing the border illegally in search of a safe haven from dangerous Central American countries like Honduras. The situation was met with both compassion and the red foreheads of those afraid that starving children (yes, children) were here to kill us with leprosy or by depleting our national reserve of Fruit Roll-Ups. Texas Governor Rick Perry even stated that the influx of large number of child immigrants may have been part of a detailed plan crafted by the drug cartels, although he didn’t go into specifics on what the plan was meant to achieve.
This short film from Josh Soskin lives next door to the issue. It features a young boy trying to save his mother’s life. Desperate for money, he accepts the worst job possible.
With shades of Sin Nombre (which rightly vaulted Cary Fukunaga into prominence), La Carnada uses gorgeous imagery to deliver a disgusting reality. It’s a somber short film that has excellent energy, leaning on an intimate and immediate problem for which there is no simple solution. Manny (Angel Gabriel Soto) is a sobering figure, willing to speak plainly to a silver-tongued drug smuggler, but also incapable of turning down an offer that comes with a wad of cash. This short is as beautiful as it is troubling.