Raising Victor Vargas

For his debut feature, director Peter Sollett (Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist) tapped untrained actors from his largely Dominican Lower East Side neighborhood to create a slice-of-life romantic comedy. Victor Vargas (Victor Rasuk) is a teenager out to cement his ladies’ man reputation by winning over local beauty Judy (Judy Marte)—despite living at home in a one-bedroom apartment with his strict grandmother and eccentric family. The result is a genuinely touching portrait of life in a part of the city mostly unseen.