Sunday was the fourth and final screening of Amexicano. My narrative feature world premiered in the Discovery section at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival...let's rewind. Last year I directed, co-wrote and produced a short film called The Watering Hole which won the first-ever Tropfest @ Tribeca at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. It was an incredible experience from the outdoor screening that attracted 5,000 people to the elite jury that chose my short to win. Funny, Tropfest @ Tribeca took place on April 28, 2006 and Amexicano made it's world premiere exactly one year later! Actually, the win at Tropfest@Tribeca secured the funding for Amexicano (that's one for the DVD special features)!
That being said, my experience this year was great! We sold out 3 of 4 screenings and the audiences responded very well. The Q & A's grew with more questions and comments each screening. The humor of the film resonated with audiences more and more and the ending, well, let's just say sparked lots of discussion and support! Mind you, there are no 'A' list names in Amexicano, however, I think there's more than a few future 'A' list candidates like actor/screenwriter/producer Carmine Famiglietti (Lbs.), new comers Raúl Castillo and Jennifer Peña , the-always-working Manny Perez (I think he has a dozen movies coming out this year) and the chameleon Michael Aronov (Lbs.). My list doesn't include myself (gotcha! I wanted to see if you're really reading this) and some other talented behind-the-sceners -- it that a word? Well, it is now (Wikipedia, anyone?).
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
Being overwhelmed with everything, I never emailed my statement to the folks at Tribeca -- okay, I'm making excuses. So here it is, the world premiere of my director's statement on The Huffington Post!
Amistad, amiti, freundschaft, amicizia, friendship. In any language, friendships are built upon trust and understanding. Amexicano traces one mans growth and the unexpected, yet welcomed, friendship that results. While the film explores important themes of immigration, prejudice, and the American dream, my primary focus was on the simple camaraderie between two hardworking men from different cultures who share the need for a paycheck and a friendship. I believe open-mindedness and friendship can form a universal bridge between any human beings. My goal in directing Amexicano was to celebrate this bond that formed in the face of cultural adversity.
ABOUT AMEXICANO
Amexicano traces the unlikely friendship between Ignacio (Raúl Castillo), a hardworking, illegal Mexican immigrant, and Bruno (Carmine Famiglietti), a blue-collar Italian American from Queens, despite language barriers and racial prejudices. The film also stars Jennifer Peña, Michael Aronov and Manny Perez.
My longtime buddy and collaborator, Carmine Famiglietti, pitched it to me last year and I was immediately attracted to the project. Carmine wrote the screenplay based on his numerous personal experiences throughout the years (he actually hired day laborers and also worked as one), his awareness of how Mexican characters were portrayed very stereotypically in certain films (that didn't sit well with him) and lastly, Carmine had a dream that he befriended an illegal Mexican Immigrant and fell in love with his wife.
A couple of weeks after his dream things moved very quickly. Carmine wrote a treatment then the first draft and next thing we knew Amexicano and our next project was born (our first feature, Lbs., premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival). I fell in love with the characters and story, which focused on an unlikely bond between two different cultures. They were very human and universal to me.
AMEXICANO & THE POLITICAL CLIMATE
As I've been saying for the last couple of weeks -- you turn on CNN, read The New York Times, tune in to BBC, watch Bill O'Reilly and Geraldo Rivera get into a heated argument on National TV, hear about the May 1st nationwide immigration protest -- immigration is all over the news and indeed a very hot topic. That said, my approach was to hone in on what attracted me in the first place -- a rare story about very human characters from different cultures who share the need for a paycheck and friendship. We didn't set out to make a political film, however, as some audience members and peers have kindly pointed out, "Amexicano does reflect the ramifications of immigrant issues which means it is a political, a social film with deep significance and insight about immigration issues and there's nothing wrong with that." Actually, to be quite honest, we would love to screen the film for Lou Dobbs, Anderson Cooper, Larry King, Chris Matthews, etc., and then have a nice discussion! I think it would be great to arrange a special screening for Rivera and O'Reilly and then go live and hear their thoughts (HINT, HINT)!
Q & A
I'll end with a question from one of the Q & A's:
A young woman asked all of us, "Does the American dream still exist?"
We all looked at each other as if it was a trick or loaded question, though definitely thought-provoking, then back out to her.
Carmine responded first and said confidently and proudly, "Yes. It's what you make of it. I am living the dream. I barely graduated high school but I'm still getting to make a life in the field I love most, filmmaking. I've been fortunate enough to have a feature at Tribeca this year, a feature at Sundance, short films at Aspen Shortsfest as well many other prestigious festivals and be apart of The Watering Hole last year. We ain't perfect but I still believe in The American Dream."
I quickly chimed in, "We should be flattered, immigrants want to come to our country for a better life," and passed the microphone to actor Manny Perez who said, "I'm Dominican, from the hills in the Dominican Republic. I come from the mountains. My dream was to come to America and be an actor. I'm living the American dream acting in television and movies." A working actor, I might add.
Revisiting that moment in the Q & A makes me think about the question again. Maybe a lot of us have forgotten about the American dream because we live here, but there are a lot of people dying, literally, to get into this country because they believe in it.
Thank you Tribeca Film Festival for having Amexicano, thank you The Huffington Post for having me, and thank you readers for reading my contribution.
www.AMEXICANOTHEMOVIE.com
For more HuffPost coverage of the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival, go here.