Hollywood On Productions: Janet Donovan & Brendan Kownacki
“Si. Se Puede!” – these three simple words when strung together changed the course of history. From farm laborers to the highest office in the the land, Cesar Chavez’s powerful slogan for the Farm Worker’s Movement translated into the supreme calling card for then 2008 presidential candidate Barack Obama into the Latino communities.
“We often forget that there are people who are willing to sacrifice for our country,” said Congressman Xavier Becerra (D-CA) at the premiere of Cesar Chavez at The Newseum in opening remarks. Although he was referring to the recent upgrade of 24 minority veterans to Medal of Honor status, it was a fitting remark in context with the evening.
Becerra had a simple story to tell. He moved his family to Washington four years ago and one day his daughter came back from a history class in high school and remarked: “Dad, can you believe that most of the kids in my class don’t know who Cesar Chavez is?” “It’s in the past,” he told her. ” Unless someone reminds you, it goes away. Tonight is a simple story about a simple man who worked very hard; but sometimes, it’s those simple stories that we forget.” Anyone that sees this movie will never forget who Cesar Chavez was!
Paul Chavez, America Ferrera, Rosario Dawson, Diego Luna, Alex Wagner, Maria Teresa Kumar
The cast and crew received a resounding and gleeful standing ovation after the Q & A which consisted of Chavez’s son Paul, America Ferrera who plays Cesar’s wife Helen, Rosario Dawson who plays labor leader Dolores Huerta, director Diego Luna, moderator MSNBC’s Alex Wagner and Maria Teresa Kumar, CEO of Voto Latino.
Cesar Chavez is a biography of the civil-rights activist and labor organizer who symbolically used grapes in defiance of inhumane working conditions and sub standard wages. By facilitating a boycott that went from grapes to wine – from here to Europe – from the Latino community to suburban homemakers, he brought the brass to their knees and the bargaining table.
America Ferrera
“I think one of the things this movie can do is to begin to bring out the pride that we have in ourselves; to not live in shame and not live in fear, but to live in the acknowledgment that we have so much to contribute. This movie has to be the first of many, which is why this movie has to succeed – not to put money in people’s pockets – to succeed because it was a hard movie to get made and now that it is here, the Latino community and supporting communities have to show up today and say, ‘yes, we want more of this’ – we want more movies like this that give us strength and pride that shows us our contributions and our experiences. I don’t think it can change things on its own, so we take this and we run with it and use it to inspire one another.”
Diego Luna
“He was just a man that wanted to change things,” said director Diego Luna. “When I became a father, I realized I was capable of almost anything if it had to do with my kids.” The kids were how he connected with Cesar’s wife Helen who preferred to remain behind the scenes and hesitant to be interviewed. But, as they became more comfortable with each other, she opened up about the saddest part of her journey – that her son Fernando, who has a dominant part in the film, never came home to live with them again because he resented his father’s sunup to sundown absence. Ironically, what made Chavez heroic is that he gave up the chance to be close to his family and see them grow up in order to give them something better. “I thought that was heroic,” lamented Luna. “I don’t know if I would have been able to go that far.”
On the Red Carpet:
The Trailer:
