By Mary Chuy
I received a call exactly at 4:11 pm only 11 minutes after our schedule time, not from a publicist or an assistant connecting our call, but from Eduardo Verastegui himself. I am making a point of this because to me this means he respects my time, that he doesn’t see himself as this untouchable celebrity that no one can’t get to. It also tells me that the reason he has became one of the most successful Latino producers/actors and well respected filmmaker in the entertainment industry is because he has integrity and he treats everyone equally.
Verastegui, who is well known around the world as a singer and actor in Mexican telenovela, produced Little Boy (his ninth credit as as a producer). As a producer he is best known for his film Bella, winner of numerous awards including the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival. Little Boy will premiere in the U.S. on April 24.
My conversation with Verastegui, who also stars in the film as Father Crispn, was more than just talking about his film, it was more like a deep conversation “en español” about faith, love, hope and about why we as humans sometimes get lost in despair, topics the film deals with as well. I personally felt really inspired by Eduardo.
Little Boy is directed by Alejandro Monteverde who also wrote the script with Pepe Portillo. The film stars Tom Wilkenson, Kevin James, Emily Watson, and Aly Landry
You can listen to the interview “en Español” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1rbUMpkQM0
Here is my translation to English
Mary Chuy: How are you Eduardo and how are the preparations for the film’s release going?
Eduardo Verastegui: Great. We are currently doing our press tour around USA, it’s almost like doing a political campaign where the candidate is Little Boy and I’m the campaign leader!
We are traveling to many cities talking to the media, community leaders and colleges trying to get their vote for our film premiere on April 24. We will be competing that same weekend with other films premiering the same day. We are in a race and the winner will be whoever sells more tickets. Basically what I’m doing is presenting the film, talking to our community about the importance of supporting this type of indie film, that was not only made to entertain, but also was designed to make our world a better place.
My hope, as a filmmaker is that when people see this movie, they will not only leave the theater happy, full of popcorn and soda, but I also want them to leave full of faith, love and hope. I believe this film has the potential to united people, to heal wounds that sometimes we been accumulating over the years, wounds that sometimes change our lives. I think art and specially films have the potential to heal, to inspire, to love, to forgive more and to have big dreams.
MC: Why do you think people sometimes lose faith and hope? For example what are your thoughts on depression?
EV: I think it’s a lot of things, everyone has a different story, everyone experiences pain in a different way. This film is also designed to wake up the child we all have inside our hearts, but that somehow when we grow up we lose that innocence. What I mean by this is that we lose the capacity to fully love, dream, serve, forgive and to live a life with purpose. We lose that for many reason, it could be the loss of a love one, a bad experience here and there, also sometimes the fact that we get so attached to our dreams. I had discovered many times that sometimes our personal dreams can became our worst enemy when those dreams are not in sync with God’s wishes.
I believe that real freedom is to dream and to do what is correct, and with Little Boy we touch all of these subjects and so it will be very easy for everyone to identify with this film.
MC: Tell us about the story.
Little Boy takes place in 1940’s in a small town by the beach in California, during World War II. This little boy who is 6-7 years old, is very short for his age and because of that he is the victim of bullies at school, but he finds refuge in his dad’s love who is his only friend and his partner-in-crime.
His family has a tradition, which is that in war times one family member must go to war! The worse day for Little Boy (played by Jakob Salvati) is when an army car arrives to pick up all the soldiers and takes his dad, he is heart broken and that is how the film starts. This little boy will do anything to bring his Dad back from war. The question becomes, can a 7 year old boy end War War II?
MC: I showed the film trailer to my 6 year-old son and the first thing he said to please ask you if the little boy will ever see his Dad again.
EV: Well, it’s part of the story, you have to see the film. The most important thing is not if he will see his dad again or not, because the reality is that there were many soldiers that come back and there were many that don’t and life goes on. It not that life is more fair to some an not to others, some things are not up to us, there is a divine plan that we may not be able to comprehend. There has to be something more, otherwise it wouldn’t make sense, all that we are seeing happening in the world these days, things such as poverty, so much violence, injustice, whats happening in the middle east, Mexico, USA and around the world, this is a global problem. There has to be something more, something that will help us all understand and comprehend why all of this is happening.
MC: I agree, you have my vote! I can’t wait for others to see this film.
EV: Look, Little Boy is going up against the giants in Hollywood, that have twenty times more of a budget than we have, we are the underdog. In the same way the little boy is, like when raised his hands to move a mountain in the film, because he heard in a conversation that if his faith was as big as a seed, he could move mountains. He took this literally and he goes and steals a seed from the supermarket, than tries to move the mountain in front of him, and God blessed him with an earthquake; and after that day everyone pays attention to this boy. My point is that in real life Little Boy, the film also needs an earthquake! and the you [the audience] are part of this earthquake.
MC: We will l “make a big earthquake” here in Latin Heat.com, we have readers all over the world.
EV: Thank you so much! Because when you are an independent filmmaker and you want to change the world, you go up against the waves. Sometimes you think its impossible and you want to give up and that is when you have to keep your faith strong, and then when you least expect it you start to feel that earthquake.
For more info on Little boy: www.littleboymovie.com #LittleBoyMovie
Watch movie trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_BdzqsIX6A
MC: Thank you! Little Boy is a film that families can watch together generation after generation.
EV: I hope that God hears you, that is our intention and we hope to accomplish just that, because our goal is to unite families and to rescue those values that we are losing today, especially in our young adults and I think that through art and films we can rescue what we have lost.
MC: Thank you again Eduardo we are glad to support your efforts.
EV: Mary Chuy Mil gracias, God bless you, I wish you a wonderful day and thank you again.
MC: Gracias por la inspiración/Thank you for the inspiration
Eduardo Verastegui Credits include: Telenovelas such as Mi querida Isabel, sonadoras and Una Luz en el camino his first film as a producer in USA was Bella winner of the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival. His IMDB:
For more information on Eduardo’s production company and upcoming projects please visit: http://www.metanoiafilms.com/
Release Date: April 24, 2015
Director Alejandro Gomez Monteverde
Cinematography: Andrew Cadelao
Producers: Leo Severino, Eduardo Verasegui, Alejandro Gomez Monteverde
Screenplay: Pepe Portillo, Alejandro Gomez Monteverde
Distributor: Open Road
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