Filmmaker Scheduled to Appear, Indiana Premiere
With humor and grit, Mad Bills to Pay paints a tender portrait of the chaos and charm of urban life and the ups and downs of youthful abandon when things take an unexpected turn. Q&A with writer/director Joel Alfonso Vargas to follow!
In a tight-knit Dominican American community in The Bronx, Rico (Juan Collado) is hustling his way through the summer, selling bootleg "nutcracker" cocktails out of a beach cooler and chasing girls without a care in the world. But when his teenage girlfriend, Destiny (Destiny Checo), begins crashing at his place with his family, turning their small apartment into a stage for their messy, complicated young love, it’s only a matter of time before they’re hit with the sobering reality of growing up too fast in a city that waits for no one. Writer-director Joel Alfonso Vargas turns his hometown into the heartbeat of his debut feature, teaming up with street-cast talent Collado and Checo, to deliver a raw and deeply authentic look at life in The Bronx. [101 min; comedy, drama; English and Spanish with English subtitles]
A Q&A with filmmaker Joel Alfonso Vargas will follow the screening.
This program is supported by a grant from the Black Philanthropy Circle.
"Joel Alfonso Vargas delivers an intimately observed portrait of Rico and the Bronx’s Dominican community, folding warmth into the very real pressures that define daily life." — Maxwell Rabb, Slant Magazine
"Thematically familiar but richly specific in its setting and cultural texture, this gritty and evocative coming-of-age drama is ultimately a tribute to its surroundings." — Todd Jorgenson, Cinemalogue
"There is immense talent here, and an immediacy that is rarely captured in films of a similar mind." — Alfred Castaneda, Shade Studios
Any film screened at IU Cinema may contain content that viewers find sensitive or upsetting. Visit our Audience Advisories page to learn more.
