WRITER / DIRECTOR JOEL JUAREZ SANCHEZ

FICTION [DRAMA/POLITICAL] / 35MM / 110 min / color / Sound Dolby Digital • Stereo

Spanish w/ English Subtitles / US & México 2010 - 2011   

UNDER THE STRAWBERRY SUN is a film about the loss of innocence. The film deals with sexual trafficking as a realistic drama seen through the eyes of a young teenager coming age in a rural village of Acapulco, Mexico. It is the personal story of Teresa a vibrant young girl in Mexico and later as a traumatized sex slave trapped in Southern California. Teresa’s story is one of personal redemption. It is a story of how someone who endures physical and psychological torture recovers and heals their soul. How that person maneuvers through society once again, after all notion and concept of trust has been destroyed. The story of Teresa ends with the horizon of her recovery. UNDER THE STRAWBERRY SUN shows that the human spirit is resilient from the most unimaginable horrors, that are as real as our daily lives.

APPROACH TO SCENES OF VIOLENCE

We will handle the scenes with utmost sensitivity.  The image will  be suggestive of the horrors that Teresa and her friends endure.  It will not, however, be an explicit depiction of rape and torture.


Teresa’s story is the story of how she processes the horrors and how she recovers from them.  Her story will bring awareness to things that occur under the sun, next door, every day.


Awareness of one’s surroundings is an important aspect to understanding one’s personal role in the community.