DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT

The film proudly makes space for Latino male vulnerability- a nearly invisible narrative. I was compelled to make this movie after witnessing actor Jorge Luna (Netflix/ Adam Sandler’s ‘The Week Of’) and his real-life son, Otto Luna-Caratini, wrestle with distance, guilt and the deafening thunder of prolonged-missing. I think turning an eye towards the care and conflict of this father-son relationship pushes stories of complex, intelligent and emotionally available men of color closer to the center of the public eye. The piece is scored by César Dávila-Irizarry (FX’s American Horror Story, Netflix’s CRIME SCENE: The Vanishing At The Cecil Hotel) and Carlos Iván Márquez.

SHORT SYNOPSIS

Jorge, a father thousands of miles away from his son, creates an alternate world- planet b234- where he can cope with the anxiety, depression, and desperation of being separated from one's child. Geographical barriers are no match for Jorge's fertile imagination, but it comes at the cost of his sanity and the very relationship he's fighting for.

FULL SYNOPSIS

Jorge is a photographer living in New York City. He is fascinated by planets, the stars, and outerspace. His young son, Otto, lives far away. The film opens with Jorge’s return flight after dropping Otto off at his mother’s home. Haunted by loneliness of a newly empty apartment, Jorge wrestles with anxiety and depression. Otto and Jorge rely on text messages to sustain their long distance relationship, but to Jorge, it feels one-sided. Jorge escapes into the news and learns that NASA has discovered a new exoplanet, planet b234, only one light year away from earth. NASA is preparing a group of young astronauts to explore planet b234. Jorge turns to the skies with his telescope- something he and Otto can do together while apart. Excited by the fantasy of a fresh start and aided by his fertile imagination, Jorge develops a meditative ritual to visit planet b234, where he constructs a dream adventure with his son. In his fantasy, he and Otto explore the planet together and have the conversations he wishes they could have in real life. They talk about religion, identity, and being Latino in the United States. Otto shares that he thinks his parents are superheroes. Jorge prefers this imagined dialogue to his painful, real-life conversations with his son, who wants to know why his dad chooses to live so far away. As the news reports turbulence and concerning discoveries regarding NASA’s mission to planet b234, Jorge finds his fantasy world harder to control. On earth, Jorge and Otto make phone-dates to look at the stars through their telescopes, but take turns leaving each other hanging. They’ve become disconnected. Jorge’s grip on reality is deteriorating and he is having trouble keeping up both his real life and imaginary relationships with his son. At the climax of his recurring day-trances, Jorge is confronted by a surprise third being inhabiting planet b234- the NASA scientist Jorge follows in the news, Dr. Hiroe Kinoshita. She holds Otto hostage on planet b234 and demands that Jorge make a choice between fantasy and reality. Jorge chooses planet b234 and the closeness he feels to his son there. It is an act of self-preservation. We end on real-life Otto trying to reach his father on the phone, not knowing that his father is galaxies away and gone for good.