Sundance has a certain reputation for dourness, so it was an unexpected treat this year to experience the neon-drenched energy of This Is Not Berlin, which we heralded as “the movie that will make you want to become a pansexual New Wave performance artist in 1980s Mexico” after its Park City premiere. Hari Sama’s semi-autobiographical film follows Carlos (Xabiani Ponce de León), a teen in 1986 Mexico City who slowly falls in love with the city’s queer art scene, where sex, drugs, and synth music mix with confrontational public stunts. It is indeed not Berlin, but it’s still a rollicking re-creation of the city before it became colonized by American Instagrammers. As in many films about how awesome it is to party, there’s the matter of the inevitable comedown, with the additional complication that Carlos might actually be a boring straight. But who cares about that when there are so many fantastic new hairstyles to get! Vulture is pleased to present your exclusive first look at the new trailer and poster for This Is Not Berlin, which opens in New York and Los Angeles on August 23.
