[1] It was premiered in the Un Certain Regard official selection at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival[2][3][4][5] where Quemada-Diez won the A Certain Talent award for his directing work and the ensemble cast.

After crossing the Mexican border by boat, they find another immigrant, a Tzotzil native called Chauk who does not know Spanish but is able to befriend Sara.

When they arrive in the town of Chiapas, they busk for money to eat and drink but are later caught by Mexican Immigration Police agents, who steal Juan's boots and threaten Chauk with a gun, before deporting all of them back to Guatemala.

During the next train ride, they meet a teenager from Guatemala that offers them jobs, but in reality it is just a trick and the boy delivers them into the hands of a group of criminals.

The website’s consensus reads: "With The Golden Dream, director Diego Quemada-Díez weaves a compassionate tale built on piercing honesty -- and outstanding work from an inexperienced cast.