Five different teenagers in the U.S. and Bolivia strive to make sense of their sexuality, revealing what is universal about the human experience. These characters from diverse backgrounds — a rich stud, a poor Bolivian school girl, a Colombian boy visiting his Bolivian cousin, an African American college student and a secretly gay football player/model — have nothing in common except the desire to experience true intimacy. Their stories unfold and overlap as they become victims of their own sexual dependencies, self-perceptions and illusions. With unusual vitality and immediacy, director Rodrigo Bellott structures stories around issues of gender, rape and sexuality in which the characters struggle with their identities, reaching for ideals that represent everything they feel they are supposed to be, but are not. Winner of the Critic’s Prize at the Locarno Film Festival, this stylistically ambitious film — Bellott uses a split-screen throughout — is the first Bolivian release since 1997.

"Its tenacious director, keeps true to a big vision ... With its wild, worthwhile ending, 'Sexual Dependency' uncovers something macro about teenagers, who are usually studied only in microcosm." — Ned Martel, The New York Times

"Bellot possesses the confidence to lay out seemingly predictable scenarios, merely to subvert them ... Bellot may very well go from being a talent to watch to being one to envy." — Darren D'Addario, Time Out New York

"Definitely worth seeking out ... an ambitious undertaking that suggests very good things to come from its young director." — V.A. Musetto, New York Post

Aetna Theater at Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art

Guild Theatre

Avon Theatre

Loft Cinema

The Cinema Tropical Film Series USA is sponsored by The New York Times.

For more information visit www.cinematropical.com or call (212) 592-3428