Annual Top Films Lists

Top 150 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2019: #111. Tijuana Bible – Jean-Charles Hue

Published on January 2, 2019

Tijuana Bible

French filmmaker Jean-Charles Hue travels abroad for his long-awaited third feature Tijuana Bible. Philippe Braunstein and Axel Guyot (who also co-wrote) produced the film through Les Films d’Avalon, co-produced by Ad Vitam. English actor Paul Anderson stars alongside Mexico’s Adriana Paz and Noe Hernandez with DP Jonathan Ricquebourg (Serra’s The Death of Louis XIV, 2016) lenses. Hue’s 2011 debut The Lord’s Ride premiered in Rotterdam and his 2014 follow-up Eat Your Bones went to the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes. Perhaps there is a tie-in with his Directors’ Fortnight preemed short Tijuana Tales (2017).

Gist: Iraq war veteran Nick (Anderson) lives in Tijuana’s Zona Norte where he meets Ana (Paz), naïve young woman searching for her missing brother, Ricardo. As Nick becomes embroiled in Ana’s life, he discovers Ricardo had been involved in a significant conflict with the local narcos.

Release Date/Prediction: Hue entered post production on Tijuana Bible in October and he could return to Cannes in 2019, potentially in either Directors’ Fortnight or Un Certain Regard.

Nicholas Bell

Los Angeles based Nicholas Bell is IONCINEMA.com's Chief Film Critic and covers film festivals such as Sundance, Berlin, Cannes and TIFF. He is part of the critic groups on Rotten Tomatoes, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and GALECA. His top 3 for 2021: France (Bruno Dumont), Passing (Rebecca Hall) and Nightmare Alley (Guillermo Del Toro). He was a jury member at the 2019 Cleveland International Film Festival.