The opening film for the 23rd Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival will be The Gasoline Thieves by Edgar Nito. The festival will run from June 27th until July 7th, Bucheon (South Korea).

The Gasoline Thieves (Huachicolero) by Edgar Nito
Mexico, USA, Spain UK | 2019 – 93 minutes

Every night, a gang of gasoline thieves drills a hole into an underground pipe at a desolate field situated in central Mexico in order to illegally extract gasoline. Lalo, an innocent and naive high-school student who lives with his single mother, gathers up the courage to ask his crush Ana to be his girlfriend and ends up becoming a laughingstock. Ana hangs out with the motorcycle-riding Rulo and his circle, but she is hesitant to give her heart to Rulo. Lalo, who owes money to the old man at the gasoline shop and also wants to buy a smartphone to give to Ana, ends up joining Rulo’s gasoline-stealing gang in order to make some serious cash. The one-night date that Lalo goes on with Ana after gifting her with the smartphone may have been the happiest moment of his life. However, the young man who wants to be an adult ultimately ends up heading for a tragic fate. This feature-length directorial debut from Edgar Nito, which won him the Best New Narrative Director Award at the Tribeca Film Festival, is a criminal drama and coming-of-age story that is told calmly and without exaggeration, but still manages to deliver a huge impact and shock. Four months ago – as if predicted by the director – an oil pipeline exploded in Mexico, taking the lives of more than 130 residents. Nito seems to have made the right decision in his approach to have his characters live in reality instead of becoming subordinate to shock. Beautiful is the person, cruel is the fate, and tragic is the life. (BiFan 2019 Catalogue)

Schedule:
June 27th | Thursday | Bucheon Gymnasium | 18:00 pm
June 28th | Friday | City Hall, Main Theater 2F | 14:00 pm

Trailer:

About the director:
Graduated from the CCC Film Training Center at Mexico City. He has made several award-winning short films at festivals such as Sitges, Cinefantasy Brasil, Scream Fest LA, among others. He was invited to direct the segment “Jaral de Berrios” in the feature
film México Bárbaro (2014). His full-length fiction feature film The Gasoline Thieves has completed its post-production process. His work also includes commercials, music videos and television series.