PARK CITY, Utah — With the Sundance Film Festival underway, one of the short films in competition has some local flair as it was produced in the Beehive State.
“I Have No Tears, and I Must Cry” is being screened and competing in the festival's shorts program. It was created by Utah filmmakers and filmed in Orem.
“We’re really excited to represent Utah filmmaking and show that there is a strong filmmaking industry here,” said producer Rollins Wimber. “There’s a lot of great locations, lot of great crew and cast, and we’re glad we’re able to shown that to everyone at Sundance.”
Created by Utah filmmakers and filmed in Orem. “It feels like a lot of full circle moments,” said the film’s writer and director, Luis Fernando Puente.
Writer and director Luis Fernando Puente moved to the U.S. from Mexico when he was young and now lives in Utah. The movie is based on his wife’s story of navigating the immigration system and the real interview he and his wife when through when she applied for a green card.
Puente said he wanted to bring his wife’s interview process to the big screen because it’s a side of the system that is often overlooked.
“This is something that I don’t really see talked about,” said Puente. “I don’t see it really being portrayed. I don’t really see people filling out these forms, no one really tells you what that’s like till you’re doing it and you think, this is surprising.”
He teamed up with a Wimber, the producer and friend he attended BYU with just a few years ago.
“I just love being able to tell an awesome story with friends and that’s one of great things I love about working with Luis; he’s my friend and so we can collaborate and be really honest with each other,” explained Wimber.
The film premiered Monday, and now the group is bringing it to people all over.
“A sense of satisfaction and validity as a director and as a filmmaker in making it and showing it to people, and having this feedback – and especially here at Sundance having that credential, having that laurel is big for me,” said Puente.
The film, along with the other short films in the series, has another screening in Park City on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Redstone Cinemas. There are also two screenings in Salt Lake City, with one is on Friday at 5:30 p.m. at the Multiplex at the Gateway, and the other Saturday at Broadway Center Cinemas at 6:15 p.m.
“I hope that people feel like they’ve been able to step in someone else’s shoes for a little bit,” said Wimber. “So we hope that people who watch this film, come away understanding what it’s like to live a different life and be uncertain about your future. and we hope that they feel more compassionate towards people who go through the immigration process.”
Puente is using his story to help make others feel seen.
“The more personal a story is, the more it is going to connect with other people, strangely enough,” he said. “Because people make connections. Us as humans, we are more alike than we are different, and I think tapping into that is what makes storytelling and filmmaking, very powerful.”
The results from the shorts competition will be announced Friday, But Puente and Wimber say they want to create a full feature film from the concept and continue to share the immigrant story with audiences all over.
