I CARRY YOU WITH ME

BY: Amanda Jane Stern

Heidi Ewing has made her name as a documentary filmmaker, known for projects such as Jesus Camp and One of Us. Now, she has ventured into narrative features with her upcoming I Carry You With Me. The movie follows the love story between two Mexican men, Iván (Armando Espitia), a closeted, aspiring chef with a young son, and Gerardo (Christian Vázquez), a gay teacher. After meeting one night at a gay bar, they are instantly drawn to one another. However, once their relationship is discovered, Iván is banned from seeing his son. He makes the difficult decision to move to New York City to further his career and create a better life. Unfortunately, he must go alone and leave the love of his life in Mexico for an indeterminate amount of time.

While the movie marks Ewing’s first foray into narrative cinema, the story is not entirely fictitious. It is based on the real-life romance of her friends Iván Garcia and Gerardo Zabaleta. I Carry You With Me was initially going to be another documentary project for Ewing, who spent years following her two friends with a camera, tracking different aspects of their life. As it became clear to her that the project would work better as a narrative feature than a documentary, she used their stories to create a script. She then incorporated current footage she shot of the two men, with their scenes as younger men played by actors.

I Carry You With Me had its world premiere on January 26, 2020, at the Sundance Film Festival. Sony Pictures Classics quickly acquired the film’s distribution rights. It was set to screen at the Tribeca Film Festival but canceled due to the coronavirus. It did play at the New York Film Festival on October 2, 2020. In addition to Espitia and Vázquez, the film also stars Michelle Rodríguez.

I Carry You With Me will come out in theaters on January 8, 2021