New York International Latino Film Festival 2009

What do you do if your first child is to be born on the same day your father is to be executed? If you're twenty-six year-old Manny, you use your father's impending execution as an excuse to flee the daunting responsibility of fatherhood. There's only one problem: Manny lives in Monterrey, Mexico and his father sits on death row in Texas.

Against his wife's wishes and accompanied by his best friend, Manny embarks on an ill-planned quest to see his father, during which he crosses paths with luchador coyotes, renegade cowboys, desert angels and a host of others along the beautiful, surreal and unforgiving border region known as El Valle. "Cruzando" is many things -- a road trip adventure, a buddy comedy and a drama grounded in current events.

But at its heart, it is the story of Manny, a man who must confront his past in order to move forward, a husband who must overcome his fear of responsibility, and ultimately, a son who must learn to become a father. Crossing borders is never easy...