The Mexican dream is a tragic comedy about the longings and delusions of Ajileo Barajas, a naïve, impulsive, but above all else passionate man, who will stop at nothing to live the dream of becoming a Hollywood star, and to give his family the possibility of a better tomorrow.
The problem is, Ajileo lives in Mexico. To make his dream come true he will have to play the biggest role of his life. Loaded with madness and desperation, Ajileo comes up with his own master plan. He dresses up as a woman and decides to cross the border illegally, convinced that if he ever faces the law in the worst scenario he will be treated as a lady.
Ajileo journeys through the dangerous desert. An immigrant smuggler: El Coyote; the burning sun; the Border Patrol; and the harsh reality of the big city are just some of the obstacles he will have to tackle to pursue his goal.
Settled down in Hollywood, where everything and nothing is as he dreamed it would be. Ajileo looses his innocence as he discovers that his own odyssey has just begun. Left with a picture of his family, and a handful of hopes, Ajileo realizes these are the true weapons to continue fighting for his dream.

Ajileo Barajas, a Hollywood star wannabe, loaded with madness and the anxiety to give his family a better life, dresses up as a woman and decides to cross the border illegally, convinced that if he ever faces the law in the worst scenario he will be treated as a lady. In his own odyssey he discovers that dreams do not always come true and reality is much different from what he envisioned.

A fast paced and fresh film that brings together two worlds and slices into one of this century's biggest social realities; immigration.
"The Mexican Dream" is a tragic Comedy that explores the dreams and delusions, the hopes and desperation that move so many people to leave their lives behind and embark in the terrible journey of immigration. It's a close look at an individual who goes to extremes to give his family a better tomorrow. The story illustrates the strength, courage and passion it takes to follow your dreams.
The idea for "The Mexican Dream" was inspired by a reality that is so palpable in Southern California. Illegal immigration is a reality that is ignored, but not by this young group of filmmakers that saw in it the potential of a powerful and meaningful story. "The Mexican Dream" is inspired by thousands of stories of valiant people who have come to the north in search of a better place, and found that their dreams is all they are left with, all that remains.
Gustavo Hernández Pérez, writer and director of the film, was moved to tackle this delicate subject after reading some articles appeared in different independent magazines. He elaborated a story that could embrace and could relate to anyone who has gone or has to go through a similar situation, but could also reach out to the general audience. He managed to do so by infusing the main character with the basic and common threats that unite immigrants around the world, simplifying the complexity of the matter, humanizing the subject and then exploding into an adventure of the magnitude of "The Mexican Dream".
Jan L. Latussek, the producer, was captured by the project from the beginning. The possibility of making a meaningful film is what moved him to push this film to completion and maintain as much of the initial intention and spirit in it.
When "The Mexican Dream" was born, it was already clear who would play Ajileo Barajas, Jesús "Chuy" Perez, an exceptional Latino actor who had taken part in a couple of previous short films shot at AFI. Once he was on board, the director and him worked long hours in creating and redefining the character. It was a long, but very useful process.
From the very beginning, this film has had a great deal of meaning for all those involved in its production. It has been our own odyssey.

"You are not going to pull it off" was probably the line that was spoken most times to the members of the production team for "The Mexican Dream". But just like Ajileo, hope is the last thing one looses. Mix that with hard team work, craftsmanship, a very clear idea of the results, and tons of preparation and suddenly you have a film in your pocket.
The Production of "The Mexican Dream" was not an easy one. A full cast of fourteen actors, extras, seventeen locations and a very limited crew, made this film a logistic challenge. But the team had a goal. And they knew which way to go.
From the first draft of the script it was clear that all the locations would be needed. Nor the producer or the director wanted to sacrifice any of them. The script was really tight and everything was there for a reason. They didn't want to sacrifice. So the search for the perfect locations and cast was on.
It took some time to find some of the locations. It was an odyssey to itself. The desert where most of the border crossing action takes place was not that difficult. The bar and carwash were probably the hardest, especially the car wash. The producer's car had never been that clean. After having visited and talked to around ten different car washes in the area, Jan L. Latussek found one that would allow a student film shoot to take place on their premises, the deal included a very limited amount of hours on a very determined day of the week.
Then came the bar, the exterior motel and the interior Hallway to "American Dream Productions". With days taken already by the desert locations and the time constraints the decision was taken to try and find these locations as close to one another as possible. While the producer was driving around town trying to find the perfect spot, Gustavo, the director was busy casting.
It took some time to put together the cast, but as happened with many things in this film, the pieces ended up falling into place, almost miraculously.
Jesus "Chuy" Perez, Ajileo, had been on the directors and producers mind since the completion of the script and there was no casting process for that part, just a telephone call and one first meeting. Jesus was captured immediately by the powerful story and energetic team and the search for the co-stars was on.
Two months prior to principal photography, the whole cast was put together and rehearsing had started. The group became like a family Working close, and enjoying the growth of the project as something common.
In the mean time, the team was also on the search of a production designer that could help with the complicated task of portraying the two opposed worlds in the film. The team needed someone who could jump right in and know in what visual and stylistic direction Joerg Schodl, the cinematographer and Gustavo, the director, where steering.
Kristrun Eyjolfsdottir came on board a month and a half before the shoot and did an amazing job defining and creating the two different worlds that collide in this film. She immediately blended into the vision of the team and worked hard to make the most out of the budgetary restrictions that the production was faced with.
From the get go, the team knew that they had to work on this project with full heart and soul. It was a very demanding film and the resources where limited, the financing not much and the stakes where very high. "This feels like a family" one of the actors commented on the first table read. Everyone was on the same page and everyone was excited to be able to contribute to this film.
Jan L. Latussek, likes to say that it is "a film by a bunch of passionate people." And so does everyone else that had the time to work with the group. The team managed to make everyone feel at home and make everyone feel that they were contributing to bringing THE MEXICAN DREAM to life, and so it was.
The budgetary restraints and the fast paced production schedule made the team take a very important decision, one that proved to be a very wise one. The shooting format of the film had been the theme of extended conversations, and it was finally decided to shoot on High Definition video, or HD 24p how it's come to be known. The latest technology in filmmaking made available to the team through the AFI's Sony Video center and the Sony Corporation of America.
Joerg Schodl, was one of the first cinematographer at the program to work with these new technologies and it proved to be an interesting and enriching learning process. He had to learn to use the new equipment, get used to its nuances, its little tricks and create the two main different looks of the film.
On May 28th after months of preparatory work, the shooting began and the days started to go by. With a very limited crew and working under extreme conditions, the shoot was hard, but made bearable by the spirits of the team, from the PA's to the Actors, everyone was collaborating and steering the six days of shooting, even under the scalding 105° desert sun to its completion.
Now it was time for Halima Gilliam, the editor of "The Mexican Dream" to start her work. And after months in the editing room, the team stepped out smiling, knowing that their dream of making a meaningful, entertaining, rich and complete film had come true.

Production was over leaving the team exhausted and with some money left. The hard team work and collective effort put into the production, planning and shooting of the film, left the team with enough money to pursue one of the goals they had set themselves from the beginning, give the short the best completion it could get.
With that in mind, the producer set in motion the post production. The help and support given to the team by the people at The Post Group, where the HD online, the color correction and the few effects where made, was incredible.
The sound post was done at the facilities of AZ productions in Los Angeles, being the second film the company tackled in its years of functioning. The job done was satisfactory, and ended up giving the film its final dimension.
Music was the other big issue that The Mexican Dream seemed to have some last minute problems with.
Juan J. Colomer, composer of the main soundtrack of the short had contributed to bring to live the melodic and more cinematic part of the soundtrack, his great understanding of the pictures dramatic needs and again, the collaboration between Gustavo, the director, gave the musical essence to the film.
After some struggles with the big corporations, some disagreements with Music Rights and Publishing issues, for the more poppy part of the soundtrack, the team decided to turn to Aureliano Mendez for some of its musical pieces. The need was there to find a musician who would be able to embody in his compositions the whole world that Ajileo represents. In collaboration with Jesús Perez, who played Ajileo, a song was written for the main title sequence.
This sequence was another fantastic collaboration to the project by Russian animator Marina Ratina. For Gustavo it was very important to create a dynamic title sequence that would not interrupt the flow of the film, but giving instead new information about Ajileo's world. After several conversations, several tests, and hard work, Marina brought to life a very powerful animated piece. The results are simply stunning.
All these collective and individual efforts are what have made this film, The Mexican Dream, a tangible reality.
Enjoy.

GUSTAVO HERNÁNDEZ PÉREZ - Director / Writer
Born in Caracas, Gustavo majored in mass communications at the Universidad Central de Venezuela. Before he graduated from AFI, He attended two previous film schools: El instituto de formación cinematográfica COTRAIN and La escuela de cine y television Macrisca. He's written and directed more than ten short films, winning several awards throughout Latin America. Gustavo believes in a cinema that simultaneously entertains and challenges an audience's expectations, one that conveys different truths than those found in commercial film. In "The Mexican dream" Gustavo accomplished an emotional journey full of surprises. Smartly balancing Comedy, Drama, and Magic realism, Gustavo created a great vision where the boundaries between dreams and reality no longer exist.
JAN L. LATUSSEK - Producer
Born and raised in Barcelona he grew up with a special passion for story telling and found his niche early on in cinema. He graduated with a Bachelor in Communication Sciences from the Universidad Ramón Llull in Barcelona where he wrote, produced and directed more than five short films and several commercials. He started collaborating with various producers in 1994 and became part of the small team that won the Goya award in 1999 for best short documentary. His passion and devotion brought him with a fellowship to study at the AFi where he has produced 4 short films, the last of which is "The Mexican Dream".
JOERG SCHODL - Cinematographer
Born in Vienna, Joerg initially studied painting at the Vienna Art School. He continued to pursue a career in cinematography at Columbia College, Chicago, in order to exceed the limitations of the still image, there he obtained his BA. During his years of study in the US he had the oportunity to work as a cinematographer on aproximately twenty short films and videos and was able to intern at the camera department of Panavision's rental facility in Chicago.
KRISTRUN EYJOLFSDOTTIR - Production Designer
Kristrun was born in Keflavik, Iceland some time ago and spend most of her life there, except for one year she spend in Australia as an exchange student. She graduated from college with a degree in sociology and a minor in psychology. Kristrun then went on to study painting in art school graduating in 1998. After working for some time in Iceland, she was accepted to AFI in the production design program where she has excelled as one a hard working and resourceful production designer. She designed eight shorts in the first year and served as art director on many others.
HALIMA K. GILLIAM - Editor
Halima K. Gilliam was born in Chicago in 1971. She worked principally as an assistant sound editor, and later as a foley editor and foley recordist, for such big companies as Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Studios, Twentieth Century Fox, Soundelux, and Weddington Productions. She is a member of such professional organizations as the Motion Picture Editors Guild, Motion Picture Sound Editors, and Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. She never lost sight of her original goal to be a picture editor and returned to graduate school to learn the craft of Editing film. She was awarded the highly prestigious Jacob K. Javits fellowship to attend film school at American Film Institute on full scholarship.

JESUS "CHUY" PEREZ - Ajileo Barajas
Jesus is a rising star. Originally from Mexico, Jesus moved to Los Angeles some time ago to pursue his dream of finding his place in the moviemaking industry. A musician and singer songwriter he has divided his time teaching singing and music. He took on his passion for acting and started working his way into film. Having been part of TV shows as an extra, his talent and perseverance brought him all the way to the AFI, where he participated in several short films and proved himself a solicited actor. His passion for the arts, his natural acting and his good spirits make him a great addition to any cast.
MARTÍN MORALES - Coyote
Martín, a graduate from USC, is very proud to add "The Mexican Dream" to a long list of film credits, which most recently include "Very mean men", "Double Take", "Say it isn't so", The country Bears", "Perfect assassins", and his latest project "The Italian Job" with Mark Wahlberg and Ed Norton. His most recent TV credits include "Watching Ellie", "Thieves", "24", "General Hospital" and "Dharma & Greg". Martín has made audiences laugh with his comedy sketch and improv at the Ice House Comedy Club, he has workshopped with the Mark Taper Forum, done musical theater with the Santa Mónica CLO and has had the honor of singing with the LA city Opera.
KARLA ZAMUDIO - Ortencia Barajas
Actress Karla Zamudio was born and raised in Los Angeles. She has been acting for 5 years, having started by doing a series of commercials and voice-overs for companies like McDonalds, JcPenney, Dodge, Milk and many others as well as guest-starring and co-starring on TV shows. Her aspirations have always been to do feature films. In 2002 that ambition led to her first leading role in the independent feature film "Death Factory" as well as having co-starring and supporting roles in other movies, yet to be released. She's also co-starred in several short films.