English, Spanish; Turkish and English Subtitles
Director/Director
Joel Alfonso Vargas
Screenplay/Screenplay
Joel Alfonso Vargas
Director of Photography/Cinematography
Rufai Ajala
Editing/Editing
Irfan Van Tuijl, Joel Alfonso Vargas
Cast/Cast
Juan Collado, Destiny Checo, Yohanna Florentino, Nathaly Navarro
Producer/Producer
Paolo Maria Pedullà
Production/Production
Killer Films, Spark Features, Watermark Media, Perpetuum Films
World Rights/World Sales
Salaud Morisset
Synopsis:
Director Joel Alfonso Vargas, developing his short film Que te vaya bonito, Rico, for which he won the Best Director award in the Leopard of the Future section of the Locarno Film Festival, tells a story that revolves around poverty, lack of education, immigration, and the search for an illegal exit and livelihood. Mad Bills to Pay is an example of American independent cinema that questions the concept of family, what it means to be a parent, and how to create an environment of love and trust. The story centers on 19-year-old Rico, who lives with his sister, a high school student, in a house run by his mother, selling soft drinks and snacks on the beach, drinking and smoking weed with the money he earns, and his attempts to take responsibility after he gets 16-year-old Destiny pregnant. Vargas tells the story of Destiny's fears, who is estranged from her mother and grandmother due to Rico's insistence and desire to be a father after her father abandoned her, without judging them. Set in Orchard Beach, a predominantly Dominican neighborhood in the Bronx, the film emphasizes the in-betweenness of its characters' identities through the geography, architecture, lifestyle and mixed English-Spanish conversations.
Director Joel Alfonso Vargas, who won the Best Director award in the Leopard of Tomorrow section at the Locarno Film Festival for his short film Que te vaya bonito, Rico, developed it into a feature film which tells a story revolving around poverty, lack of education, migration, and the search for a way out even if it means breaking the law. Mad Bills to Pay is an example of American independent cinema that questions the concept of family, the meaning of parenthood, and the ways to create an environment of love and trust. It focuses on the attempts of 19-year-old Rico to take responsibility after getting 16-year-old Destiny pregnant. He lives with his high school student sister and mother who takes care of their expenses. He sells soft drinks and snacks on the beach and spends his earnings on alcohol and drugs. Vargas narrates Rico's desire and insistence on becoming a father, because his father abandoned him, and Destiny's fears of being separated from her mother and grandmother, without making judgments. Set in Orchard Beach in the Bronx, where Dominicans are the majority, the film emphasizes the characters' sense of being caught between identities through the geography, architecture, lifestyle, and their language which is a mixture of English and Spanish.
