Directed by Cary Fukunaga, set in Mexico, and concerning poor
people who’ve made the life-threatening decision to travel north to the
land of milk and honey, Sin Nombre is awash in danger:
violent gangs, border patrol, inclement weather. But mixed in are many
pleasures, two of which are ghetto flowers (or slum princesses). One
dies young, the other falls in love with a gangsta. The film as
a whole is big, bright, and bold. (See Movie Times: thestranger.com/film.)

Charles Mudede—who writes about film, books, music, and his life in Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, the USA, and the UK for The Stranger—was born near a steel plant in Kwe Kwe, Zimbabwe. He has no memory...