by the El Reportero’s news services
Michael Peña will interprete César Chávez.Mexican actor and director Diego Luna’s biopic on Latino icon Cesar Chavez (1927-1993) will have its world premiere in February at the Berlin International Film Festival, the movie’s production company said.
“Cesar Chavez: An American Hero” will be entered into the festival’s official program in the Berlinale Special section, which presents recent works by contemporary directors, as well as cinematic portraits of renowned personalities, Canana Films, which Luna co-owns with fellow Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal, said in a statement.
The cast of the biopic is headed by Michael Peña, who plays the role of the late migrant farm workers’ leader and civil rights activist.
Golden Globe winning actress America Ferrera plays the part of Chavez’s wife, while Rosario Dawson portrays Dolores Huerta, Chavez’s partner in founding the National Farmworkers Association (later the United Farm Workers).
“Cesar Chavez represents the largest non-violent protest movement in U.S. history; his goal was to achieve basic human rights for the more than 50,000 farm workers in California,” Canana said.
“We think the film will send the message that change is in our hands. Chavez did something that everyone thought was impossible with courage that inspired an entire nation.”
“Cesar Chavez,” which will hit U.S. theaters on March 28 and arrive in Mexico on May 2, was filmed in the United States and the northern Mexican state of Sonora.
It marks Luna’s second foray into directing, after his hit 2010 comedy/drama “Abel.”
Mexico’s Alfonso Cuaron Wins Best Director at Critic’s Choice Awards
Mexico’s Alfonso Cuaron, who has three Oscar nominations, was honored as Best Director for “Gravity” at the 19th Critic’s Choice Movie Awards, where “12 Years a Slave,” one of the favorites to win a gold statuette, had another night of glory when it was named Best Picture.
The critics gave further backing Thursday to the trio of movies best positioned to win the most sought-after Oscar: “12 Years a Slave” that got three awards, the story of Arizonasurvival in space “Gravity” that picked up seven, and the comedy-drama “American Hustle” with four.
The Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, saw the same actors stepping up to collect their prizes that did the same at last week’s Golden Globes: Matthew McConaughty, Best Actor for “Dallas Buyers Club,” Cate Blanchett, Best Actress for “Blue Jasmine,” Sandra Bullock, Best Actress in an Action Film for “Gravity,” and Leonardo diCaprio, Best Actor in a Comedy for “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
This was also a great night for the Kenyan revelation Lupita Nyong’o, who was chosen Best Supporting Actress for “12 Years a Slave,” the same category that has made her the first to have a shot at an Oscar.
The anecdote of the night was provided by Sandra Bullock who let slip a profane “what the f—k?” when a technical glitch interrupted her speech of gratitude for being chosen Best Actress in an Action Movie.
“I’m an action hero, you do not do that to an action hero,” she continued immediately, getting more laughs from the audience.
Penelope Cruz set to play lead in New Julio Medem film ma ma
Penelope Cruz is set to play Magda, the leading character of “ma ma,” a movie written and directed by Julio Medem with two other Spaniards in the cast, Luis Tosar and Asier Etxeandia, and with the music of three-time Oscar nominee Alberto Iglesias Currently in preproduction, the film will be shot next spring entirely in Spain and in Spanish, and will be produced by Cruz and Medem in collaboration with Morena Films, the Dyp communications company told Efe.
“ma ma” (no capital letters) tells the story of Magda, a woman who “faced with tragedy, reacts by living the life she always had within her, from the imaginable to the unimaginable.
