About Me
Sangre De Mi Sangrereleased in New York May 16th at the IFC Center.
In Los Angeles May 23rd and then around the country. Keep an eye out
for it. Support Independent Film!
SANGRE DE MI SANGRE (The Movie)
U.S.A., 2007, 105 Minutes, color
Director:
Christopher Zalla
Screenwriter:
Christopher Zalla
Fleeing a pack of henchman on the Mexican side of the border, Juan hops a truck transporting illegals from Mexico to New York City. En route he befriends Pedro, an innocent from central Mexico who is headed to New York to seek his rich restaurateur father, Diego. Pedro shows Juan a sealed letter that his mother, now dead, has given him--an introduction to the father he never knew. When the truck pulls into New York City, Pedro wakes to find both his belongings and his new friend gone without a trace. He is cast onto the street and stumbles around, lost in an unknown city. Juan, meanwhile, shows up at Diego's door with the letter, claiming to be his long-lost son, Pedro.
Padre Nuestro, Christopher Zalla's smartly scripted first feature, is an exhilarating dog-eat-dog thriller brimming with style and exceptional performances. A provocative tale of stolen identity and fate, Padre Nuestro is also an insightful examination of the human longing to be loved... Shari Frilot
ABOUT THE CAST
Diego -- Jesus Ochoa
Jesus Ochoa is best known to American audiences for his role as Fuentes, the corrupt cop in Denzel Washington starrer, Man On Fire. But Ochoa has appeared in over three dozen feature films, and dozens of TV shows and theatrical productions in his native Mexico. He..s considered one of the finest actors working in Mexico today. Ochoa has won two Mexican Academy Awards, The Ariel, for Best Supporting Actor.
Juan .. Armando Hernandez
At the age of 22, Armando Hernandez has already appeared in nine feature films and was nominated for the Mexican Academy Award, The Ariel for Best Supporting Actor and won the Silver Goddess (Mexican Cinema Journalists award) for Best Supporting Actor in Amar Te Duele. He most recently starred in Fuera Del Cielo, which won the Guadalajara Film Festival for Best Director this year and will be released in the US by Lionsgate.
Anibal .. Eugenio Derbez
Eugenio Derbez is the most recognized comedian in Mexico and one of the most influential actors in Latin America due to his incredible ability to transform himself into many characters. He has not only starred in his own comedy shows "Al Derecho y al Derbez", "Derbez en Cuando", "XH-Derbez" and "La Familia Peluche" but he is also the producer, writer, and director. In United States, Univision broadcasts his shows daily in prime time. In theatre, Eugenio has starred in many plays and he has received the Best Actor in a Comedy Award for the lats three. His vocal performance of Donkey in Shrek is very well known in every hispanic country, as are his numerous other characters in Spanish versions of American movies. He holds a degree in filmmaking from the Mexican Institute of Cinematography.
Pedro .. Jorge Adrian Espindola
Jorge Adrian Espindola recently played a role in the Cannes prize winning film The Three Burials of Melquiades, directed by Tommy Lee Jones. He has also starred in the telenovela ..Vale Todo.. and won best actor at the Valladolid Film Festival.
Magda .. Paola Mendoza
Paola Mendoza, was last seen in the critically acclaimed feature film On the Outs, which she also co-created. Ms. Mendoza received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress from the Method Film Festival for her portrayal of a 17-year-old mother addicted to crack cocaine. On The Outs was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, Gotham Award and was a recipient of the Audience and Jury Awards at the 2005 Slamdance Film Festival, as well as the Jury Award at the 2005 Deauville Film Festival. She also has Good-Bye Baby, Coming Soon and One Night in post production. Ms. Mendoza is also an award winning filmmaker.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
Writer/Director .. Christopher Zalla
Padre Nuestro is writer-director Christopher Zalla..s first feature film. Mr. Zalla also wrote a feature film set in a Bolivian Prison, entitled Marching Powder, for Brad Pitt..s Plan B Entertainment. Don Cheadle is attached to star. Mr. Zalla has received an MFA with Honors in directing from Columbia University's Graduate Film Division, where the faculty awarded him a full Departmental Research Assistant fellowship for merit as a top student. Zalla also served as a teaching assistant at Columbia, where he instructed undergraduates in weekly classes in film history, theory, and craft. Mr. Zalla was born in Kisumu, Kenya and spent much of his youth overseas. He has also worked as a rough carpenter and spent nine summer seasons as a commercial salmon fisherman in Alaska..s Bering Sea. He is fluent in Spanish. Mr. Zalla currently lives in New York City.
Producer .. Benjamin Odell
Benjamin Odell worked as a journalist, screenwriter, TV writer and producer in Colombia, South America for most of the nineties. He wrote over 300 hours of Spanish language dramatic television and co-wrote the film Golpe De Estadio, which was nominated for the Spanish Academy Award in 1999, and was Colombia..s nomination to the Oscars in 2000. He has produced or executive produced films such as Rockaway, La Mujer De Mi Hermano (released by Lionsgate, 2006) and Confess (Best Screenplay, Hamptons Film Festival, 2005) and most recently produced the feature film Ladron Que Roba A Ladron to be released by Lionsgate in 2007. Odell has taught screenwriting at Columbia University and The New School in New York City and holds a master in film from Columbia.
Producer .. Per Melita
Per Melita comes to Padre Nuestro with 10 years experience as a Line Producer and Production Manager in the independent film industry. In this capacity he has worked on the production of such films as La Ciudad, Trick, Getting To Know You, In The Bedroom, The Jimmy Show and Never Forever. Per has also served as Co-Producer on such films as the War Within, Quid Pro Quo and the award winning Roger Dodger (2002 Tribeca Film Festival, 2002 Venice Film Festival).
Per also serves as the Vice President of Cinergy Pictures, a New York based production and production services company, whose most recent credits include the Oscar nominated La Bestia Nel Cuore aka Don..t Tell (directed by Crsitina Comencini) and the critically acclaimed political thriller on organized crime in Italy Giovanni Falcone: L..uomo Che Sfido Cosa Nostra produced by RAI Television.
Executive Producer .. James M. McNamara
James McNamara is the founder and chair of Panamax Films, a Spanish language film production company. Prior to founding Panamax, McNamara was CEO and President of Telemundo Communications, the second largest Spanish language TV network in the United States. He was also president of Worldwide Television at Universal Studios and CEO of New World Entertainment. Since founding Panamax he is a producer on Ladron Que Roba A Ladron, to be released by Lionsgate in 2007 as well as executive producer of La Mujer De Mi Hermano (released by Lionsgate in 2006) as well as the independent features Rockaway and Feliz Navidad, both currently in post-production.
Executive Producer -- Daniel Carey
Dan Carey is a New York based independent producer. He formed Two Lane Pictures with partner James Shifren in 2004 with a mission to produce and finance independent films. In addition to Padre Nuestro, Two Lane Pictures has produced Live Free or Die, which won top prizes at SXSW and Seattle Film Festival and is due for release by ThinkFilm in 2007. Upcoming projects include Paul Schneider..s directing debut Pretty Bird, Sophie Barthes.. Sundance Lab project Cold Souls and an untitled Philip K. Dick biopic with Paul Giamatti to star. Past producing credits include Still We Believe (ThinkFilm), Beyond The Promised Land (Warner Bros.) and ..Real McCoy.. (which he also directed).
Executive Producer .. Gloria Reuben
Gloria Reuben has acted in network television, film, theater and music. Reuben starred in the hit NBC series ER, a role that garnered her two Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe nomination. Other television credits include ..Homicide: Life on the Street.., ..The Agency.., Feast of All Saints.. and ..Salem Witch Trials... Film credits include Timecop, Nick of Time, Shaft and The Sentinel. In 2000, Reuben was a back-up singer for Tina Turner on her "24/7 Tour", and shortly thereafter produced and recorded her debut record "Just For You". Most recently, she performed in David Hare's play "Stuff Happens", portraying Dr. Condoleezza Rice. She will be seen in the upcoming HBO movie "Life Support". Reuben is an avid HIV/AIDS activist, traveling around the U.S. and Canada to meet with political leaders and give speeches on the issue. One of Reuben's favorite hobbies is to sing the Star Spangled Banner for the New York Giants, and for the NY Knicks.
Director of Photography .. Igor Martinovic
Igor was born in Croatia where he studied cinematography at Academy of Dramatic Arts. He has been living in New York since 1993. His first professional experience in the United States was working as a Mr. Softee ice-cream man and he has since filmed several feature and short fiction films and numerous documentaries. Two feature films Igor filmed this year - Padre Nuestro and The Fraulein - are selected to screen at Sundance FF 2007. The Fraulein has already won the Best Film awards at Locarno Film Festival and Sarajevo Film Festival. The same film also played in the official selection of Camerimage, cinematography festival in Poland. Igor also shot a period film, ..Torte Bluma,.. starring Stellan Skarsgard which won the Best Film at Palm Springs Short FF as well as the Best Drama at Los Angeles Short FF 2005. Igor is currently shooting a documentary on Philippe Petit .. the man who walked the wire between the two World Trade Center towers.
Production Designer .. Tommaso Ortino
Tommaso Ortino has been production designer on nearly a dozen feature films including Forgiveness, nominated for the Israeli Academy Award in 2006 and December Ends which won Best Picture at Method Fest in 2006. Ortino graduated from the Accademia di Belle Arti of Florence and lives in New York City.
Costume Designer - Taphat Tawil
Taphat Tawil is a New York based costume and production designer for film, theater and print. In the past year she has designed several feature films, most recently, Tie a Yellow Ribbon for PBS. She has a wide range of stage credits including the New York Off Broadway theater circuit designing such plays as Arthur Miller..s After the Fall for Rosebud/Circle in the Square Productions and underground original hits as Saddam the Musical and the upcoming 27th Heaven. Her designs have appeared in variety of magazines, newspapers, commercial and print campaigns as well as nationally for companies such as MTV Networks, Exxon Mobil, PBS and others.
Mexico Casting Director - Manuel Teil
Manuel Teil has cast such films as Amorres Perros, Y Tu Mama Tambien (both nominated for the Oscar) La Primera Noche and Spanglish, starring Adam Sandler and Tea Leoni.
New York Casting Directors - Ellyn Marshall and Maria Nelson
Ellyn Marshall and Maria Nelson have cast such films as Maria Full of Grace (audience award, Sundance Film Festival), Real Women Have Curves (audience award, Sundance Film Festival) and Girlfight (Grand Jury Prize, Sundance Film Festival).
Editor .. Aaron Yanes
Aaron Yanes has edited films and documentaries in Spanish, Korean, Greek, and Farsi. He hopes to one day edit something in English. Recent credits include Zarin for artist Shirin Neshat, as well as a video installation for Carnegie Hall in collaboration with cellist Maya Beiser and composer Eve Beglarian. He has worked in television
and commercials with MTV, BET-J, and Opticnerve Productions. He also juggles.
Composer .. Brian Cullman
Brian Cullman has written about music and travel for Rolling Stone, The N.Y. Times Magazine, Antaeus & Spin, produced such artists as Lucinda Williams and Ghazal, and has composed and produced music for Stanley Tucci's The Impostors, Love Walked In, Mixing Nia, and Lulu, and is currently working on the national film board of Canada documentary Flicker (about beat icon Brion Gysin..s Dream Machine) and on the upcoming feature When The Road Bends.
