To Miami from Venezuela, big dreams realized in movie ‘The Shadow of the Sun’
By Michelle F. Solomon | ArtburstMiami
August 5, 2025 at 11:41 AM EDT
In Miami native Miguel Angel Ferrer’s feature film “The Shadow of the Sun” (“La Sombra del Sol”), the main character Leo is depicted as being reluctant to step outside of his current familiar situation, despite its dreariness, into the future.
A similar hesitance plagued Ferrer, too, as he describes the aha moment when he decided to make his movie that would go on to win numerous film festival awards and was selected as Venezuela’s official entry for Best International Film in the 2024 Academy Awards. With a distribution deal from Outsider Pictures, “The Shadow of the Sun” (“La Sombra del Sol”) is making its U.S. theatrical debut in Miami movie theaters opening Friday, Aug. 8.
It was the closing night of the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) in 2021, recalls Ferrer. After attending films and meeting people at the festival, he says he asked himself, “Why don’t I have a film here?’” And the answer, he says, was always the same.
“It was because I hadn’t made up my mind to do it. The only obstacle was me.”
The story of two brothers came to mind. Leo (Carlos Manuel González) gave up his dreams, including singing, after his parents died in a fire and he became caregiver to his deaf younger brother, Alex (Anyelo López in his film debut). Alex, a budding songwriter, wants to bring hope back to his brother in the form of the two of them entering a musical contest, which offers a much-needed cash prize.
The theme of perseverance amid adversity was inspired by Ferrer’s 2020 trip to Venezuela and his dream of making a film about his homeland.
Ferrer, a native of Venezuela, moved to Miami in 1996 at the age of twelve with his Cuban mother. His father, who was also born in Venezuela, came to Miami about two years later, he says. They settled in Kendall.
“Since then, I have only been in Venezuela once in 2007 for about 10 days and then, in 2020, (producer) Wil Romero convinced me to go there and do a project,” he says.
Ferrer, who lives in Los Angeles, landed his first job as a cameraman for National Geographic. The 2003 graduate of Miami’s Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, Ferrer would go on to study film at the University of Miami, graduating in 2007. He credits mentors in the university’s film department — Jeffrey Stern of the School of Communications, who recently won an Emmy Award for his work on the HBO series “Boardwalk Empire,” and Johnny Calderín, who was part of UM’s film department, and now heads the film program at his alma mater Belen Jesuit.
“There are so many people who have helped me. And it just shows that when you lend someone a hand, it goes a very long way.”
In 2014, Ferrer founded Magic Films, an L.A.-based company that collaborates with major record labels on music videos and produces commercials for brands such as State Farm, Pepsi, Nissan, and Super Bowl Hispanic campaigns.
The trek to Venezuela in 2020 to meet Romero started as an adventure and never let up. “I didn’t have a valid Venezuelan passport. So, I flew into Colombia, crossed the border by foot, and pretty much had to sneak into my own country. He picked me up in his truck and we went on a 16-hour drive through the interior of Venezuela.”
The trip was life changing. “Along that path, I met so many people, I re-encountered my country through the people of the interior.”
The “interior” was Romero’s hometown Acarigua, located in the northwestern state of Portuguesa, Venezuela. “I re-encountered what it was like to be Venezuelan,” says Ferrer. “People that do miracles every single day because they have so many obstacles.”
He was determined that the movie would be made entirely in Venezuela. “Yes, there’s the political situation that has been going on for 25 years, and the oppression and all that, yet you still see these people fighting every single day. And I said, ‘Where is this in the movies? Where is this in cinema? And how do I take this to an international audience and show them who the people truly are.’ ”
He also made another discovery, Anyelo López from Caracas, who had never acted before and is the co-star of the film.
Speaking from Spain via an interpreter, the 27-year-old López, born deaf, describes discovering an unexpected destiny.
It was through WhatsApp as part of a small group of deaf people that would meet up in Caracas, where López learned about the casting call. “I received this video about the casting, and I wanted to know about the money. How much would it pay?”
It wasn’t because he had dreams of being in the movies that he auditioned, he admits.
“It’s a really complicated situation in Venezuela, so many, many people have a similar story. They will just try to find work,” says López.
There were eight deaf actors who auditioned for the role. “And then it was down to only three. And then Miguel said to me, ‘It’s you. You are Alex.’ And I was so happy that Miguel chose me. No, I didn’t have this dream, but I thought it would be a great experience.”
He had never been to Acarigua, more than 100 miles from Caracas, where most of the film was shot. The entire production took just 18 days—16 in Acarigua and two in Caracas.
“It’s really beautiful there. And it would be long days of shooting – like eight hours of filming and it was hard work, but it was amazing,” says López.
Co-star González spent three months learning sign language with two Fundafid foundation members in Caracas before filming began.
For López, working with Ferrer, González, and others involved in the film’s production, the experience changed his life; he is now dedicated to pursuing a career as an actor.
“I’m really proud to be from Venezuela and a deaf actor. It is a good way for me to talk about my experience. I have these options as a deaf person and as an actor, and maybe with a new story.”
The decision to portray the younger brother as deaf in the film originated from the theme Ferrar wanted to have so strongly at the center of “The Shadow of the Sun” (“La Sombra del Sol”).
“There are people who have all these gifts and opportunities, and they waste them for whatever reason, and then there are people who would die to have those chances, and they never will. It comes from my experience. We all do it, maybe because we’re human, so that’s a frustration I had even with myself.”
He relates this to the characters he’s created.
“There’s Leo, who has this amazing voice and talent, good looks, and everything going for him and wastes it. And on the other side, you have someone with no voice. Even being deaf, Alex has more of a voice than his brother. In the end, he is the one who shows his brother how to use his voice.”
Ferrer notes that although he completed the film nearly three years ago, its current release is more than relevant given current U.S. policies concerning Latin American migrants and asylum seekers.
“It shows you that there are people who just want the chance to have a better life. They just want a shot. I certainly wouldn’t have had all of the opportunities I’ve had throughout my life if my mother hadn’t brought us from Venezuela to here.”
WHAT: Miguel Angel Ferrer’s “The Shadow of the Sun” (“La Sombra del Sol”)
WHERE: Coral Gables Art Cinema, 260 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables; CMX CinéBistro CityPlace Doral, 3450 NW 83rd Ave., Doral; CMX Brickell City Centre, 701 S. Miami Ave., Miami; AMC Aventura 24, 19501 Biscayne Blvd., Aventura.
WHEN: Opens Friday, Aug. 8 with a 7:15 reception at Coral Gables Art Cinema and a Q&A after the film. Starts Thursday, Aug. 14 at Savor Cinema, 503 SE 6th St., Fort Lauderdale
COST: Tickets range from $8 to $20, depending on showtimes and movie theater.
INFORMATION: Showtimes and information at outsiderpictures.us
(In Spanish with English subtitles)
ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit news partner of WLRN, providing news on theater, dance, visual arts, music and the performing arts.
A similar hesitance plagued Ferrer, too, as he describes the aha moment when he decided to make his movie that would go on to win numerous film festival awards and was selected as Venezuela’s official entry for Best International Film in the 2024 Academy Awards. With a distribution deal from Outsider Pictures, “The Shadow of the Sun” (“La Sombra del Sol”) is making its U.S. theatrical debut in Miami movie theaters opening Friday, Aug. 8.
It was the closing night of the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) in 2021, recalls Ferrer. After attending films and meeting people at the festival, he says he asked himself, “Why don’t I have a film here?’” And the answer, he says, was always the same.
“It was because I hadn’t made up my mind to do it. The only obstacle was me.”
The story of two brothers came to mind. Leo (Carlos Manuel González) gave up his dreams, including singing, after his parents died in a fire and he became caregiver to his deaf younger brother, Alex (Anyelo López in his film debut). Alex, a budding songwriter, wants to bring hope back to his brother in the form of the two of them entering a musical contest, which offers a much-needed cash prize.
The theme of perseverance amid adversity was inspired by Ferrer’s 2020 trip to Venezuela and his dream of making a film about his homeland.
Ferrer, a native of Venezuela, moved to Miami in 1996 at the age of twelve with his Cuban mother. His father, who was also born in Venezuela, came to Miami about two years later, he says. They settled in Kendall.
“Since then, I have only been in Venezuela once in 2007 for about 10 days and then, in 2020, (producer) Wil Romero convinced me to go there and do a project,” he says.
Ferrer, who lives in Los Angeles, landed his first job as a cameraman for National Geographic. The 2003 graduate of Miami’s Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, Ferrer would go on to study film at the University of Miami, graduating in 2007. He credits mentors in the university’s film department — Jeffrey Stern of the School of Communications, who recently won an Emmy Award for his work on the HBO series “Boardwalk Empire,” and Johnny Calderín, who was part of UM’s film department, and now heads the film program at his alma mater Belen Jesuit.
“There are so many people who have helped me. And it just shows that when you lend someone a hand, it goes a very long way.”
In 2014, Ferrer founded Magic Films, an L.A.-based company that collaborates with major record labels on music videos and produces commercials for brands such as State Farm, Pepsi, Nissan, and Super Bowl Hispanic campaigns.
The trek to Venezuela in 2020 to meet Romero started as an adventure and never let up. “I didn’t have a valid Venezuelan passport. So, I flew into Colombia, crossed the border by foot, and pretty much had to sneak into my own country. He picked me up in his truck and we went on a 16-hour drive through the interior of Venezuela.”
The trip was life changing. “Along that path, I met so many people, I re-encountered my country through the people of the interior.”
The “interior” was Romero’s hometown Acarigua, located in the northwestern state of Portuguesa, Venezuela. “I re-encountered what it was like to be Venezuelan,” says Ferrer. “People that do miracles every single day because they have so many obstacles.”
He was determined that the movie would be made entirely in Venezuela. “Yes, there’s the political situation that has been going on for 25 years, and the oppression and all that, yet you still see these people fighting every single day. And I said, ‘Where is this in the movies? Where is this in cinema? And how do I take this to an international audience and show them who the people truly are.’ ”
He also made another discovery, Anyelo López from Caracas, who had never acted before and is the co-star of the film.
Speaking from Spain via an interpreter, the 27-year-old López, born deaf, describes discovering an unexpected destiny.
It was through WhatsApp as part of a small group of deaf people that would meet up in Caracas, where López learned about the casting call. “I received this video about the casting, and I wanted to know about the money. How much would it pay?”
It wasn’t because he had dreams of being in the movies that he auditioned, he admits.
“It’s a really complicated situation in Venezuela, so many, many people have a similar story. They will just try to find work,” says López.
There were eight deaf actors who auditioned for the role. “And then it was down to only three. And then Miguel said to me, ‘It’s you. You are Alex.’ And I was so happy that Miguel chose me. No, I didn’t have this dream, but I thought it would be a great experience.”
He had never been to Acarigua, more than 100 miles from Caracas, where most of the film was shot. The entire production took just 18 days—16 in Acarigua and two in Caracas.
“It’s really beautiful there. And it would be long days of shooting – like eight hours of filming and it was hard work, but it was amazing,” says López.
Co-star González spent three months learning sign language with two Fundafid foundation members in Caracas before filming began.
For López, working with Ferrer, González, and others involved in the film’s production, the experience changed his life; he is now dedicated to pursuing a career as an actor.
“I’m really proud to be from Venezuela and a deaf actor. It is a good way for me to talk about my experience. I have these options as a deaf person and as an actor, and maybe with a new story.”
The decision to portray the younger brother as deaf in the film originated from the theme Ferrar wanted to have so strongly at the center of “The Shadow of the Sun” (“La Sombra del Sol”).
“There are people who have all these gifts and opportunities, and they waste them for whatever reason, and then there are people who would die to have those chances, and they never will. It comes from my experience. We all do it, maybe because we’re human, so that’s a frustration I had even with myself.”
He relates this to the characters he’s created.
“There’s Leo, who has this amazing voice and talent, good looks, and everything going for him and wastes it. And on the other side, you have someone with no voice. Even being deaf, Alex has more of a voice than his brother. In the end, he is the one who shows his brother how to use his voice.”
Ferrer notes that although he completed the film nearly three years ago, its current release is more than relevant given current U.S. policies concerning Latin American migrants and asylum seekers.
“It shows you that there are people who just want the chance to have a better life. They just want a shot. I certainly wouldn’t have had all of the opportunities I’ve had throughout my life if my mother hadn’t brought us from Venezuela to here.”
WHAT: Miguel Angel Ferrer’s “The Shadow of the Sun” (“La Sombra del Sol”)
WHERE: Coral Gables Art Cinema, 260 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables; CMX CinéBistro CityPlace Doral, 3450 NW 83rd Ave., Doral; CMX Brickell City Centre, 701 S. Miami Ave., Miami; AMC Aventura 24, 19501 Biscayne Blvd., Aventura.
WHEN: Opens Friday, Aug. 8 with a 7:15 reception at Coral Gables Art Cinema and a Q&A after the film. Starts Thursday, Aug. 14 at Savor Cinema, 503 SE 6th St., Fort Lauderdale
COST: Tickets range from $8 to $20, depending on showtimes and movie theater.
INFORMATION: Showtimes and information at outsiderpictures.us
(In Spanish with English subtitles)
ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit news partner of WLRN, providing news on theater, dance, visual arts, music and the performing arts.