Represented Films
Ladrones y Mentirosos (Thieves and Liars)
Puerto Rico/112 mins.
Synopsis: Strategically located between South and North America, Puerto Rico has become the main gateway for cocaine into the U.S. east coast. The film follows the lives of three Puerto Rican families, each affected by this wave of corruption and crime, as the older generations helplessly watch the deterioration of truth and justice in their society’s youth.
Cheo and Miguel are two brothers who support their disapproving grandmother with money they earn from shady drug smugglers. Wanda Velez, a single mother and entrepreneur, tries to find justice in the Puerto Rican legal system as she fights corruptions. Rebellious teenager Luisito experiments with illegal drugs despite the warnings of his concerned mother Isabel, who finds herself forced to seek the help of her irresponsible ex-husband in dealing with the boy.
Through these compelling parallel stories, the film calls attention to the truly inescapable corruption in Puerto Rico, which is very much a product of American influence.
Language: Spanish
Genre: Drama,Foreign,News/Current Events,Reality,Thriller/Suspense
Format: 35mm,DigiBeta
Director: Ricardo Méndez Matta
Writer: Poli Marichal, Ricardo Méndez Matta
Cast: Steve Bauer (Scarface, The Lost City, Traffic, Forever Lulu), Lymari Nadal (American Gangster, Battlestar Galactica), Elpidia Carrillo (Salvador, The Border, Bread and Roses), Daniel Lugo (Linda Sara, La Gran Fiesta, Mariana de la Noche), and Magda Rivera
Festival, Competitions & Reviews
- Puerto Rico's Official Entry to 2007 Academy Awards
- Winner - Best Director, World Cinema Phoenix International Film Festival
- Official Selection, Seattle International Film Festival
- Official Selection, Havana Film Festival (Cuba)
- Official Selection of over one dozen US and international film festivals
- Variety: “Novelistic detail of life in modern Puerto Rico is both the challenge and the reward of ‘Thieves and Liars’…” “Pic is strong as an ensemble piece and a 'Traffic'-like how-they-done-it, and could fare well in Spanish-lingo markets.
- The Nation: “If you don't know who Ricardo Mendez Matta and Poli Marichal are by now, you will once you see Ladrones y Mentirosos (Thieves and Liars), a gritty look at Puerto Rico high on drugs: Think Syriana meets The Sopranos meets Traffic, La Charca and Les Miserables-abridged of course-set on a Caribbean island, with blockbuster appeal.”
- PRIMERA HORA: “An extraordinary addition to what we may call the new Puerto Rican cinematography.” “In ‘Thieves and Liars’ we have one of the best Puerto Rican films in many years.”