“Babylon” breakout star Diego Calva is returning to his film roots for Mexican feature “City of Dreams.”
The drama, which is inspired by true events, follows young boy Jesús, whose dreams of becoming a soccer star are shattered when he’s trafficked across the border and sold to a sweatshop making fast fashion in downtown Los Angeles.
The official synopsis reads: “Thrust into a world of exploitation and despair, he’s forced to adhere to the grueling work schedule dictated by El Jefe, a boss who promises freedom for those who complete their quotas. Despite Jesus’s hellish existence, he finds solace in Elena, a girl who was similarly betrayed and sold into slavery. When she goes missing and another co-worker Carlito’s is severely beaten, Jesus realizes that his only hope for freedom is to make a daring escape.”
The film is written and directed by Mohit Ramchandani; Jason Patric, Alfredo Castro, Ari Lopez, Samm Levine, Paulina Gaitan, and Francisco Denis co-starring alongside Calva.
“City of Dreams” is produced by Jon Graham, Rufus Parker, Matthew Diezel, and Sean Wolfington. The executive producers include Tony Robbins, Luis Fonsi, Yalitza Aparicio, Michael Phillips Thomas Jane,
Linda Perry, Luis Mandoki, Ohn Devaney, Ana Wolfington, Shehzaan Chunara, Brad J. Lamb, and
Rohan Ramchandani.
Calva previously called out his Netflix series “Narcos: Mexico” for glorifying cartels.
“There’s a moment in your career as an actor that you really can’t choose your roles,” Calva told GQ. “You are just grateful that you’re having a job, and ‘Narcos’ is a great show. But in my case, it’s a little hard because the way they put the story of my country, I don’t agree at all. There’s a lot of truth and that’s amazing, but there’s a lot of lies, too.”
Calva continued, “I think my country doesn’t need more narco culture and making these guys heroes.”
Calva is set to star in Daniel Minahan’s adaptation of “On Swift Horses” alongside Jacob Elordi and Daisy Edgar-Jones.
“My dream is to be part of Latin American cinema always,” he added. “My only fear right now is that maybe Latin directors are going to think, ‘That guy will never come back,’ and they are not going to call me.”
“City of Dreams” premieres August 30 in theaters. Check out the trailer below.
