In just his first feature film, Mexican filmmaker Sebastián Hiriart is already showing why he will be a presence in the Latin American filmmaking community. His debut feature “A Stone’s Throw Away” (“A Tiro de Piedra”) has made its rounds on the international festival circuit, including appearances in the San Sebastian, Miami and Dubai film festivals. The film has also taken numerous awards at the Gramado Film Festival and the FICC Mexico, including best picture, best director and best actor.
“A Stone’s Throw Away” tells the story of Jacinto Medina (played by Gabino Rodríguez), a young Mexican herder who is bored with his life herding sheep and dreams of moving north. Jacinto decides to leave his life behind and embark upon a personal odyssey when he stumbles upon a mysterious keychain. Will the keychain lead Jacinto to his own nirvana or will the journey be all for nothing?
Having worked on more than 15 features, shorts and television productions as an actor, director, cinematographer and camera man, Hiriart is an entirely self-taught jack-of-all-trades filmmaker. Even with a shoestring budget, Hiriart exudes confidence in his filmmaking debut. In “A Stone’s Throw Away”, he manages to feature a wide variety of locales, stunning landscapes, and dream sequences, and injects a unique perspective into the subject of immigration. Hiriart is not the only one receiving acclaim for “A Stone’s Throw Away” — so is lead actor Gabino Rodríguez.
The promising young actor has been busy in Mexico’s theater and independent filmmaking scene and was recently honored by the Toulouse Latin American Film Festival last March.
“A Stone Throw’s Away” is an official selection in The FreeStyle Life Film Exhibition and will make its exhibition premiere tomorrow. The full film can be seen at http://exhibition.thefreestylelife.com/a-stones-throw-away.html.