Santa Cruz Film Festival 2009

San Francisco filmmaker James Savoca’s third feature is a romantic fairytale that celebrates the power of love to overcome life’s obstacles and find a place of beauty and freedom. Sweet, shy June (Samaire Armstrong, TV’s Entourage) spends a solitary life working at a diner and caring for her simple-minded Uncle Henry (Brad William Henke) and her alcoholic, abusive Father (Jon Gries, Napoleon Dynamite). Playing in the rain one day, she meets the eye of Juan Diego (Oscar Guerrero), a struggling immigrant, whose gaze and bashfulness enchant her. Earnest and sincere, he too is taken by her beauty and radiant spirit.

Prodded by Henry, who narrates our fable, these two lonely outsiders come together and begin a delicate romance. With the love and kindness of Juan Diego, June confronts distant family tragedies and finds the strength and courage to fly away to freedom.

Set in San Francisco’s eastern Potrero Hill neighborhood, Savoca has created a lush, dreamlike, coastal village. This San Francisco is unlike any ever seen on film and is interwoven with playful animated sequences to create a magical storyland.

Around June is a deeply beautiful, inspirational journey of a young woman’s self-discovery and transformation.