Dominic Rai is a writer and director, working with new technologies.  He saw A Better Life at Chapter Arts in Cardiff.  Here is his thoughts.

“This country is a land of dreams it can be a hard place, a cruel place; but it’s where I work and I dream of a better life for my son”.  The charm of A Better Life is seeing a difficult relationship of hardworking illegal immigrant and his 14 year old son in present day East LA.  The film concentrates on the father son relationship, this is where it succeeds.  Demian Birchir plays Carlos Galindo and Jose Julian his son Luis. Both the actors are magical but Birchir’s performance is masterful.

Carlos works seven days a week for a fellow Mexican as a gardener, struggling to give Luis opportunities he never had. Whilst keeping him away from gang culture.  Carlos buys his boss’s truck. When the truck is stolen by a co-worker father and son start to connect.  Not only do we see the relationship developing over 90 mins, the story resonated for me as I watched it with my son, remembering my own father’s sacrifices in a country that was not his own.  “I don’t know whats going to happen to us?”

Thank you Dominic.

See the trailer here.