Palm Beach International Film Festival

“Think Kids meets Midnight cowboy” Ekaj is a love story between two drifters, the naive teenage Ekaj and the sarcastic hustler Mecca. On the background, we can see Harlem, Washington Heights, The Bronx, L.E.S. and Brooklyn. They go around the entire city sharing their dreams, cut off from society, discarded by life. The core of the movie is Ekaj, a runaway who thinks he will become the lover of a rich man and be taken care of for life. He finds his dreams shattered, although he makes some money as a prostitute, he finds he is disposable, replaceable and lacking what it takes to survive in the city. Mecca is a hilarious, foul mouthed character that has multiple problems of his own. We get a glimpse that Mecca has AIDS, he is high all day and still manages to be sane and sharp. When Ekaj finds himself used and discarded, Mecca shows him how to endure and not lose hope. As the film progresses Mecca becomes ill, at the same time we see Ekaj becoming stronger and less vulnerable. Their mutual loneliness leads to genuine friendship.

DIRECTOR: Cati Gonzalez
PRODUCERS: Cati Gonzalez, Mike Gonzalez
WRITER: Cati Gonzalez
CAST: Jake Mestre, Badd Idea, Scooter LaForge, Vinny Cruz
RUNTIME: 1:21:00
COUNTRY: USA
LANGUAGE: English