1	Books Great summer reads from Dirty Girls to the business wisdom of billionaire Jorge Pérez. read more...
2	Film & TV How a Garcia girl made a movie; Nestor Carbonell runs Gotham in The Dark Knight. read more...
3	Music The Pinker Tones redefine Latintronica; Jorge Villamizar gets personal; and Esperanza Spalding makes her debut. read more...
4	Ask Julie Understanding the Gold Standard. read more...
5	Calendar Outstanding events around the country. read more...

Latin Forum

FILM & TV

How This Garcia Girl Made a Movie

Georgina Garcia Riedel’s How the Garcia Girls Spent their Summer is a multi-generational tale of three women and one very steamy season.

It's a little crazy,” says Georgina Garcia Riedel. She’s on her way to Riverside, California for a conference where she, a producer from her film and one of the stars will be interviewed for PBS. “It’s pretty cool that they are talking about my movie.”
It’s definitely cool, but not surprising. Garcia Riedel’s debut feature film, How the Garcia Girls Spent their Summer, was first shown at a the Sundance Film Festival in 2005 and is finally gearing up for a national, though limited, release this summer.
The story follows three generations of women in a Mexican-American family—a grandmother, her daughter and her granddaughter—in the American Southwest during one scorcher of a summer. The project actually began as a short film Garcia Riedel was working on in graduate school while studying at the American Film Institute. She made a short film that largely focused on the character of the grandmother, played by actress Lucy Gallardo.
“In school, that’s where I met up with Lucy Gallardo,” she says. “When she walked into the room, she was a diva, not in a bad way but in the way that realizes you are in the presence of real talent. I thought she was larger than life.”
In the short, Garcia Riedel discovered not only the sheer talent of Gallardo and a passion for directing, but also the opportunity for a larger story. The two other female roles, originally supporting characters, were fleshed out, and a rich family tapestry was woven.
“I always wanted to make it, and I knew I wanted it to be my first feature,” Garcia Riedel says of the story. The full film stars Gallardo, and also stars Elizabeth Peña as her daughter Lolita, and America Ferrera as her granddaughter. Blanca With three very strong and iconic actresses embodying the characters, Garcia Riedel was sure she’d come away with a poignant film.
“In terms of all three leading ladies, I thought they were all perfect. When people see the movie, the people talk about the performances. The thing is they embodied the characters so richly and perfectly.”
It also didn’t hurt that the story, which she wrote, tackled some tough concepts. Not only did Garcia Riedel want to show the distinctions between women of different generations and their perspectives on life, but also their unique and shared experiences.
“[The film] is about: At what point do you become a woman?” she says. “Is it the first time you have sex? The first time you fall in love? What is it that makes a girl a woman? I am calling the grandma, who is 70, a girl, and the mother a girl, too.”
In the film all three women grapple with love interests and the questions they bring up for women at their stage of life. For the youngest, Blanca, it’s about the first flames of love; for Lolita, the divorced daughter, it fills a sense of loneliness; and for Dona Genoveva, the grandmother and matriarch, it sparks questions of a new beginning late in life.
In addition to tackling the subject of love, the film explores the three characters’ relationships to culture and language. Garcia Riedel shows firsthand what happens in many Mexican American families, from the shift from Spanish to English to the adoption of American ideals and popular culture by the younger generations.
“We tried to capture that it’s different,” she says. “The first generation barely speaks English. Lolita could break out into Spanish, but you get the idea that she could say what she wanted to in [either language]. I was trying to stay as true to life as possible.”
Without being autobiographical, the director says some aspects of the film were inspired by moments in her own life. Her own grandparents didn’t speak English, though she is sure that they understood some. “We would have a family gossip in English, but [they] would ask questions about it in Spanish. My mother grew up learning Spanish but she is perfectly fluent in both.”
The title of the film is self-explanatory but also comes from the director’s own life. “I remember being a kid and coming back from summer and the first report was about summer vacation. [The title is] two-fold: it’s a complete summer movie, and “Garcia girls” because I am a Garcia myself and it’s a very pretty name.”
However particular the story may be to one family’s summer, Garcia Riedel took care to make How the Garcia Girls Spent their Summer universal and appealing to all: teens, people in the middle of their lives, and older people, as well. As she developed the characters, she realized there were aspects to them that are universally sympathetic, which many critics suggest is one of the critical elements of great movies.
“It was fun discovering these other characters. Blanca’s character came into being so much easier. I felt I could not relate to Lolita, because I have beer been divorced, I don’t have a kid,” she says. “[But then I thought] I have felt lonely, and once I saw that as the core of her being, I realized I can totally relate to that.”

ONE TO WATCH: Jennifer Peña

Leave it to PBS to air ingenious programming that unites the worlds of learning and entertainment. Think Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow and Mr. Rogers. These shows launched a new era in children’s programming and ushered in a new world for parents and kids alike. This summer, public television has done it again with the start of a new season of segments airing during PBS Kids Destination Preschool. Alongside Curious George, Clifford the Big Red Dog, and more, children are treated to the lessons of Miss Rosa.
Played by actress and teacher Jennifer Peña, Miss Rosa is a nurturing figure who not only delights preschoolers with her charm and personality but helps arm them with a new Spanish vocabulary. Donning curls and colorful clothes, Miss Rosa leads a group of small children on set and teaches lessons on animals, outer space, public safety and more, all the while integrating bilingual terms.
Born in Chicago to a Costa Rican father and Puerto Rican mother, but raised in Florida, Peña was a teacher for three years.
“When I was in the classroom, I had a global outlook on things,” she says of her years teaching high school. “I was one to keep an eye on world affairs, and I did bring that into the classroom. I taught American government. I also taught global studies, which was an international affairs class. I let them [students] know it is different outside of the U.S. It really prepared me for PBS.”
Because she loved teaching, both in the classroom and as a private coach and acting teacher, she admits it was a tough decision to leave it for the acting world she had known as a child. Peña had also acted since she was 9, and felt the lure of it again when PBS came calling.
“I loved being a teacher, but [for] my acting it was a now or never,” she says. “I could always go back to teaching. I took the phone call as a sign and I am glad I did.”
Television must be happy as well, as Miss Rosa’s segments have caught media attention and earned parent approval for her upbeat mix of lessons and language. Check local listings for PBS Kids Destination Preschool schedules.

Screen Presence

By Millie Acebal Rousseau

From playing a scheming tycoon’s son, a mysterious Other and running Gotham City, Nestor Carbonell is all over the screen, big and small.

Cuban-American actor Nestor Carbonell is used to change. Growing up, it is reported that he lived all over the map: Mexico, Venezuela, Florida, Connecticut, to name a few locales.
Perhaps all that moving around prepared him for an equally diverse career in both film and television. His credits run the gamut, as Carbonell has taken his place on sitcoms, dramas and animated series, not to mention his film work. The award-winning actor, a Harvard grad, most recently starred as Frank Duque on the CBS drama, Cane, along with an all-star Hispanic cast. And he is in the works to reprise his role as the mysterious figure Richard Alpert on the ABC hit show, Lost.
This summer Carbonell shares the screen with Christian Bale and the late Heath Ledger in the much-anticipated latest installment of the Batman film franchise, The Dark Knight.
Carbonell took some time out while filming in Hawaii to chat with Hispanic.

Hispanic Magazine: How did you come to be a part of The Dark Knight?
Nestor Carbonell: I’m a Batman fan. I went in to read for [director] Christopher Nolan. I thought it went well, but you never know. A couple of months passed, and I was in Hawaii shooting Lost. My agent called and told me he got a call to see a tape [of my work]. So we sent him a scene from Smokin’ Aces, and two days later I got the job.

HM: You play the mayor. Is he a good guy or a bad guy?
NC: Ultimately, he’s a good guy, but jaded. He went into politics with ideas of what he wanted to do and accomplish, and he had to comprise on his principles to get things done. He’s not bad, but has tough skin. He’s seen a bit in his tenure.

HM: What was it like working with Christopher Nolan, who directed The Prestige and Memento?
NC: Christopher knows what he wants. He creates an environment where you feel relaxed. He’s incredibly bright and a great writer. He wrote a speech for me as [my character the] mayor. And he’s fast. He cuts the scene in his head before it’s shot.

HM: What are your thoughts on the tragic passing of Heath Ledger, who co-stars in The Dark Knight?
NC: Sadly, I didn’t get to know him. I was certainly a fan of his. He did tremendous work in a short amount of time—deep, powerful and lasting work.

HM: On to Lost. Your character Richard Alpert is very mysterious. What can you reveal to us about him?
NC: All I can say is I’m reprising the role. I don’t want to give away too much and ruin it for viewers. I love my role; there’s a lot of dimension, and he doesn’t age.

HM: Do you know what’s going on in the show, or are you in the dark like the rest of us?
NC: I’m told as much as is shot. I’m a little ahead because we’ve shot more than has aired. Lost takes you places you haven’t been before on television. Now with the fast-forward element, the possibilities ... It keeps you guessing and on your toes.

HM: Is Cane coming back?
NC: I don’t think so.

HM: That was a different role for you ... not the usual confident character you play. What was it like to portray him?
NC: I loved playing that role. He had so many flaws. He was a slighted brother, angry, but in a lot of pain. I was really drawn to it. It was a tremendous cast. We had a phenomenal time.

HM: What’s your dream role?
NC: To play Armando Valladares [a Cuban political prisoner]. I’ve adapted his book, Against All Hope, into a screenplay, and I’m developing it. I’m looking for financing now.

Sketchy Character

Top DreamWorks animator Manuel Almela brings the cartoon world to life.

By Sara Fernández Cendón

As fun and awe-inspiring as present-day animated movies are to watch (remember falling in love with Remy from the Oscar-nominated Ratatouille and becoming mesmerized by the beauty of the film?) they represent enormous work from scores of artists.
Manuel Almela, a computer animator for DreamWorks Animation, is one of the many artists whose specialized skills contribute to the creation of today’s lush animated features. Almela’s long list of credits includes The Prince of Egypt, Shrek the Halls and Kung Fu Panda, to be released June 6.
Today’s audiences want animated characters that are more life-like—they grow fur, get a sparkle in the eye, quiver, blink or blush. That means the work that goes into creating them and the worlds they inhabit is ever more specialized. It involves far more work than goes into producing a live action film. Suffice it to say that while a live action film might take months to produce, an animated feature usually takes years.
Much like in live-action film production, the process begins with a script. In animated films, however, storyboard artists are charged with the task of imagining how to turn a good script into an animated feature. Once their vision is approved by the directors and producer, the visual development department designs the look of the entire film down to the smallest details, and actors’ voices are recorded to start building up characters. The next step involves constructing digital 3-D models rigged to yield character-specific gestures. Layout artists then create a blueprint known as “animatic,” which guides things such as camera movement, character placement, lighting and timing. Then comes character animation, and this is where Almela’s work begins.
Almela started his career as an animator doing pencil-on-paper sketches. Back in his native Spain, working in animated film meant being involved in every stage of the process—from storyboarding to animation. Almela wanted to focus specifically on animation and eventually moved to Los Angeles, where he lives today. As a computer animator, Almela now works mostly with images in a digital format, but to him the computer is just another tool, and imagination is as central as it has ever been. “Everything still happens in your head,” he says.
Working on Kung Fu Panda, Almela and other animators received characters in a “T-pose” (characters standing straight with arms stretched out). Guided by the director, they used the controls built into the 3-D models to develop performances. Animators also synchronized characters to the voice tracks recorded by actors, including Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan and Lucy Liu. Finally, textures, lighting and sound were added to complete the film, which Almela describes as “the best project [he’s] ever worked on.” Frankly, we can’t wait to see.

Screen Shots

Whether in theaters, on TV or arriving in your mailbox on DVD, these screen gems coming out this month burst through any screen, big or small.

Henry Poole is Here
Screenwriter Albert Torres puts a comic twist on a miraculous story in this film that is slated to open July 25. When Henry, played by Luke Wilson, learns he has six weeks to life, he leaves his life behind to spend his last days in his house alone. When a nosy neighbor, Adriana Barraza, sees a vision of Jesus appear on Henry’s wall, she brings her friends and priest, played by George Lopez, to worship, and destroy Henry’s peace.

La Historia de Elián González
On June 19, Discovery en Español re-airs the documentary of the life of the little boy who put U.S.-Cuba relations back on the front pages. From Elián González’s frightening travel to America to the legal battle and family drama surrounding his return, the documentary reveals sides of the story and details never before seen.

Mandrake
Beginning on June 4 on HBO Latino, Mandrake follows the life of a Brazilian criminal attorney who specializes in cases of blackmail and extortion, bringing together the worlds of Rio de Janeiro’s underclass and upper crust.

The Eye
In this American remake of the Japanese horror flick Jian Gui, Jessica Alba stars as Sydney Wells, an eye transplant patient whose new eyes give her a peek into the supernatural world. Terrified by what she sees, Sydney must face her fears and quests to find the donor.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Director Guillermo del Toro’s comic book action movie returns to the trials of the underworld’s hero Hellboy. This time Earth hangs in the balance when an ancient pact between humans and the supernatural is broken, and Hellboy is called upon set things straight. Opens July 11

Che
Eduardo Noriega stars as the Argentine revolutionary in this film that tells the story of Che Guevara’s life through his role in Cuba’s revolution and his last days. Brazilian actress Sonia Braga also stars.

The Take
This great summer action and suspense blockbuster stars John Leguizamo as an armored truck driver shot during a robbery in East L.A. As he attempts to heal, he must also come to terms with the psychological trauma and feels he must confront his attacker.

The Happening
M. Night Shyamalan’s summer thriller, opening June 13, stars John Leguizamo and tells the story of a family fleeing a doomsday event that threatens to destroy mankind. Rated R.

15 días contigo
Isabel has just embarked on a new, independent life and wants nothing to do with her past. But when Rufo, an old friend, reappears, he throws her rules for a loop as he imparts his wisdom, affection but also earns her suspicions.