by Antonio Mejías-Rentas
Actor Benicio del Toro plays Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara role in the fi lm El argentino.(Photo by Prometheus Brown)
‘CHE’ RETURNS TO CUBA: Actor Benicio del Toro and director Steven Soderbergh successfully screened their latest film at this year’s Havana Film Festival.
Screened as two separate films titled El argentino and Guerrilla, the latest work by the filmmakers was applauded after screenings Dec. 6 in the Cuban capital.
The films were the expected highlight of the famed festival, which turned 30 this year.
At a press conference the day after the screening, the Oscarwinning actor said he admires Ernesto “Che” Guevara, the Argentine revolutionary he portrays in both fi lms. He called him a “man of consequence” but said he personally opposes armed struggle.
Just two days before, groups of Cuban exiles in Miami protested the film’s premiere screening in the city.
Che reunites Del Toro with Soderbergh, who directed his award-winning performance in Traffic.
Even though the film has had lukewarm reviews, Del Toro won an acting award for it at the Cannes Film Festival this year and is considered a contender for another Oscar nomination.
John Leguizamo
‘NOTHING LIKE’ AN OPENING: A rare Christmas film about a Latino family with a distinguished Latino cast opens nationally this week. Nothing Like the Holidays looks at a holiday week in the life of a Puerto Rican family in Chicago’s Humboldt district.
It stars John Leguizamo and Freddy Rodríguez as two of the family’s sons and features performances by Alfred Molina and Elizabeth Peña as the parents, as well as Luis Guzmán, Melonie Diez, Vanessa Ferlito and Jay Hernández, with Debra Messing as the Jewish daughter-in-law.
Directed by Alfredo de Villa based on a script by R ick Nájera and Alison Swan, some of the film’s plot-lines parallel the life o f Rodríguez, a Chicagoan of Puerto Rican descent who served as one of the film’s executive producers. Not coincidentally, the film’s family is named Rodríguez.
Overture Films releases the film Dec. 12. Hispanic Link.
