La Mission

Che Rivera grew up in the Mission district of San Francisco and learned to be hard in order to survive. He is respected in the barrio: he has done his prison time, given up drinking, and become a craftsman who rebuilds lowrider cars with his own hands. Since his wife died he has raised his son Jes alone, and the boy is his pride. Then he finds out Jes is gay. Peter Bratt's film shows the neighbourhood's idea of manhood from the inside rather than judging it from outside: Che's fear is as present as his anger, his blindness as present as his love. Benjamin Bratt, the director's brother, plays the lead and is one of the producers. The neighbourhood itself, the cars, the tattoos and the murals are all part of the story. It emerges slowly that the person who has to change is not the son but the father.