Cinema Guild has announced the U.S. theatrical release of En el Séptimo Día (On the Seventh Day), the fiction feature from director Jim McKay, which follows a group of undocumented Mexican immigrants living in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, over the course of seven days.
Shot with a wonderful cast of non-professional actors from the local Poblano community, the film will open on Friday, June 8, at the IFC Center and BAM Rose Cinemas in New York City, and on Friday, June 15 at the Laemmle Music Hall in Los Angeles, followed by other U.S. cities.
Bicycle delivery guys, construction workers, dishwashers, deli workers, and cotton candy vendors, these new Americans work long hours six days a week and then savor their day of rest—Sunday—on the soccer fields of Sunset Park. José (played by the delightful newcomer Fernando Cardona), a bicycle delivery worker, is the team's captain—young, talented, hardworking, and responsible.
When José's team makes it to the finals, he and his teammates are thrilled. But his boss throws a wrench into the celebration when he tells José he has to work on Sunday, the day of the finals. José tries without success to reason with his boss or replace himself in the match. If he doesn't work on Sunday, his job and his future will be on the line. But if he doesn't stand up for himself and his teammates, his dignity will be crushed.
Partly inspired by Robert Smith’s groundbreaking book Mexican New York and shot in the actual Brooklyn neighborhoods of Sunset Park, Park Slope, and Gowanus, En el Séptimo Día is a humane, sensitive, and humorous window into the Mexican community of New York—the third-largest immigrant group in the city—which is seldom portrayed in cinema.
Produced by Mexican filmmaker Lindsey Cordero with McKay, Alex Bach, Caroline Kaplan, and Michael Stipe, the film’s impact is made quietly, with restraint and respect for the individual experiences, everyday challenges, and small triumphs of its characters.
