Luna to Serve on the Berlin Film Festival’s International Jury

Diego Luna is joining the judge’s panel… 

The 37-year-old Mexican actor, producer and director has been named to the Berlin Film Festival’s International Jury this year.

Diego Luna

Maggie Gyllenhaal, German actress Julia Jentsch, Tunisian producer Dora Bouchoucha, Iceland’s Olafur Eliasson and Chinese writer-director Wang Quan’an will join Luna to round out the jury that will decide who will receive the Golden and Silver Bears at Berlinale next month.

Dutch helmer-writer Paul Verhoeven will lead the jury as President.

Luna’s breakthrough role come with Alfonso Cuarón’s Y Tu Mamá También and he’s recently stared in Disney’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and has had roles in ContrabandMilk and The Terminal. His directorial debut Abel premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010.

The Berlin Film Festival takes place February 9-19.

Garcia Bernal to Direct His Second Feature Film, “Chicuarotes”

Gael Garcia Bernal is ready to head back behind the camera…

The 36-year-old Mexican actor, director and producer will helm a “very dark comedy” titled Chicuarotes.

Gael Garcia Bernal

The film is set amid the lakes in Mexico City and centers around teens who “want to become economically superior to what they are,” he said during the Doha Film Institute’s Qumra event dedicated to nurturing emerging Arab filmmakers.

Bernal said his sophomore feature, which follows his 2007 directorial debut Deficit, is being written by Mexican scribe Augusto Mendoza, who co-penned Diego Luna’s feature film debut Abel and Luna’s upcoming Mr. Pig.

Bernal and Luna are partners in Canana, the Mexico City/L.A. production house Luna founded with Bernal and Pablo Cruz and which has become a powerhouse producer for a new generation of Mexican helmers.

“All I can say in a broad way is it’s about kids and that the lake is a paradise; it’s an incredible place with the axolotl,” said Garcia Bernal. The axolotl is an odd-looking ancient salamander with a flat head and spiked feet.

“It’s paradise but these teens want to buy into the whole narrative of progress; to be economically superior to what they are. It’s ridiculous what we go through as humans to become richer,” Garcia Bernal mused.

He’s developing it through Canana with plans to start shooting next year.

During the Doha masterclass in Doha Bernal called his experience directing Deficit, which is a drama about an upper-class Mexican brat, an experiment that just didn’t happen.” He added: “but it gave me a strong sense of vengeance. I want to direct a film next year, one way or another.” Since Deficit Bernal has shot five shorts.

Luna’s Cesar Chavez Biopic to Premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival

Diego Luna’s latest directorial effort is set to premiere in Germany…

The 34-year-old Mexican actor/director’s biopic Cesar Chavez: An American Hero will have its world premiere next month at the Berlin International Film Festival, according to the movie’s production company.

Diego Luna

The film about Latino icon Cesar Chavez (1927-1993) will be entered into the festival’s official program in the Berlinale Special section, which presents recent works by contemporary directors, as well as cinematic portraits of renowned personalities, Canana Films, which Luna co-owns with fellow Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal, said in a statement.

The cast of the biopic is led by Michael Peña, who portrays the late migrant farmworkers’ leader and civil rights activist.

Michael Pena as Cesar Chavez

Golden Globe winning actress America Ferrera portrays Chavez’s wife, while Rosario Dawson plays Dolores Huerta, Chavez’s partner in founding the National Farmworkers Association (later renamed to the United Farm Workers).

“Cesar Chavez represents the largest non-violent protest movement in U.S. history; his goal was to achieve basic human rights for the more than 50,000 farm workers in California,” said the production company’s statement.

“We think the film will send the message that change is in our hands. Chavez did something that everyone thought was impossible with courage that inspired an entire nation.”

Cesar Chavez, which will hit U.S. theaters on March 28 and arrive in Mexico on May 2, was filmed in the United States and the northern Mexican state of Sonora.

It marks Luna’s second foray into directing, after his hit 2010 comedy/drama Abel.

Yazpik to Headline Indie Film “The Jesuit”

José María Yazpik is heading south of the border for a thrilling revenge mission…

The 41-year-old Mexican actor has been cast as the lead in Alfonso Pineda Ulloa’s indie film The Jesuit.

José María Yazpik

Written bythe film centers on a man called “The Jesuit” who has been imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. When his wife is killed and his son kidnapped and taken to Mexico, he devises a dangerous plan to rescue his son and avenge his wife’s death.

Shannyn Sossamon will play the woman Yazpik’s character hires to masquerade as his wife during his revenge mission.

Yazpik, most recently starred in Diego Luna’s Abel and just finished work opposite Penelope Cruz in Pedro Almodóvar’s newly named comedy Brief Lovers.

His previous credits include Beverly Hills Chihuahua, The Burning Plain and Borderland.

The Jesuit is set to begin filming this month in Mexico.