TRAILERS

Official US Trailer for '499' Film About a Time-Traveling Conquistador

by Alex Billington
August 6, 2021
Source: YouTube

"Do the traumas of the past stay with us?" The Cinema Guild has unveiled a new US trailer for a fantastic indie discovery from Spain, a docu-drama hybrid titled 499. We originally covered this last year when a festival promo trailer dropped, but the film is now getting a theatrical US release at the end of the summer. Which is great news! I hope some intrepid cinephiles go out and watch this. The film mixes documentary footage from Latin America, along with a simple story of a time traveler. Upon the 500-year anniversary of the Spanish Conquest, a ghostly Conquistador miraculously washes up on the shores of modern Mexico. As he journeys toward the capital, he remembers events from his past with the testimonies of real people, the survivors of contemporary violence. History and the present begin to merge, giving nightmarish reflection on the enduring legacy of colonialism in our world today. It stars Eduardo San Juan as the conquistador. I saw the film last year, and it's one-of-a-kind cinema meditation that seriously impressed me. Take a look.

Here's the new official US trailer (+ poster) for Rodrigo Reyes' film 499, direct from YouTube (via TFS):

You can watch the early festival promo trailer for Rodrigo Reyes' 499 here to view the first look again.

Stranded in modern-day Mexico, a 16th-century conquistador starts a journey, visiting bereaved relatives of murdered activists, exploring haunting strip clubs, and traversing misty mountains. A narrator brings to life text from old diaries, as the time traveler crosses over dunes and through bustling cities, detailing accounts of how the Spanish dehumanized the societies with whom they met, and with what impunity they maneuvered and battled. There are hints of remorse over the violence they unleashed, but these are few and far between. 499 is directed by Mexican filmmaker Rodrigo Reyes, his second feature film after directing Lupe Under the Sun previously, as well as a few other shorts. The screenplay is written by Rodrigo Reyes and Lorena Padila. This was supposed to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival this month. It also later showed at Hot Docs and IDFA (virtually) last year. And it stopped by the Portland Film Festival earlier this year, as well as a few other festivals. The Cinema Guild will debut Reyes' 499 in select US theaters (NY) starting on August 20th, 2021, and later in LA & San Fran. For more info, visit the film's official website.

Find more posts: Documentaries, Foreign Films, To Watch, Trailer