City of Dreams : Exclusive Interview with Actor Ali Lopez, Actress Renata Vaca, Director Mohit Ramchandani

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Ari Lopez is known for City of Dreams (2023), Todos los incendios (2023) and Broken Borders (2023).

Renata Vaca was born on March 26, 1999 in Tlalpan, Mexico City, being daughter of Nicaraguan mother María Fernanda Vaca Jiménez, and Mexican father Francisco Salvador Ibinarriaga Padilla.

She made her acting debut in the film Lady Rancho (2018), which has been followed by the films Clases de Historia (2018), Bonded (2020) and the series La reina soy yo (2019) and Rosario Tijeras (2019). In 2022, she joined the cast of the tenth installment of the Saw film series, Saw X, which was released in September 2023. Renata auditioned for the role of Snow White, the new live-action remake, Snow White (2025), but in the end Rachel Zegler ended up getting the part. Her last work was with the film City of Dreams (2024) and the Apple TV+ series Midnight Family (2025) based in the documentary with the same name.

Mohit Ramchandani was Born in Mumbai, India and raised in Hong Kong and then Los Angeles, Ramchandani initially worked as a film producer on projects that starred Paul Rudd, Anne Hathaway, Jamie Dornan, Luke Wilson and Tim Roth, among others. He also directed the short film Devil’s Creek which premiered at the Cannes Short Film corner. He most recently directed City of Dreams, which stars Alfredo Castro, Paulina Gaitan, Francisco Denis and the Golden Globe Nominated Lead Actor of Babylon, Diego Calva.

The film was Executive Produced by New York Times best-selling author and speaker Tony Robbins, five time Grammy winning singer Luis Fonsi, award-winning singer-song-writer Linda Perry, Academy Award Winning producer Michael Phillips and Academy Award nominated actress Yalitza Aparicio (Roma). Original Music was composed by Academy Award Nominated Composer Lisa Gerrard (Gladiator, Ali, Inside Man). Inspired by true events, the film chronicles the journey of a young Mexican boy whose dreams of becoming a soccer star are shattered when he’s trafficked across the border and sold to a sweatshop in downtown Los Angeles. The film is being screened for Congress on September 9th, Co-sponsored by a Democrat and a Republican in a bi-partisan effort to raise awareness for the exploitation of migrant children.

City of Dreams

City of Dreams : Inspired by true events, City of Dreams follows Jesús, a young Mexican boy whose dreams of becoming a soccer star are shattered when he’s trafficked across the border and sold to a sweatshop making fast fashion in downtown Los Angeles. Thrust into a world of exploitation and despair, he’s forced to adhere to the grueling work schedule dictated by El Jefe, a boss who promises freedom for those who complete their quotas. Despite Jesús’ hellish existence, he finds solace in Elena, a girl who was similarly betrayed and sold into slavery. When she goes missing and another co-worker Carlitos is severely beaten, Jesús realizes that the only way to save himself and the others is to fight back, even if it costs him his life.

Director : Mohit Ramchandani

Producer : Sean Wolfington, Mohit Ramchandani, Matt Diezel, Jon Graham, Rufus Parker

Screenwriter : Mohit Ramchandani

Distributor : Roadside Attractions

Production Co : P2 Films, Mogul Productions

Rating : R (Strong Violence|Partial Nudity|Bloody Images|Language|Child Abuse|Some Sexual Material)

Genre : Mystery & Thriller, Drama

Original Language : English

Release Date (Theaters) : Aug 30, 2024, Wide

Runtime : 1h 36m

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