By Iain Blair
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -
Mexican film director Patricia
Riggen faced so many challenges making her new film, "Under The
Same Moon," that she almost gave up, but it is good for
audiences and for Riggen that she persevered.
The Spanish-language film, which debuted in major U.S.
cities this week and will play around the country in days
ahead, puts a human face on illegal immigration. Yet, Riggen
hopes audiences will see beyond political issues and be touched
by the tale of a mother and son who long to reunite.
Fox Searchlight, the art-house distributor behind such hits
as "Juno," quickly snapped it up for theaters. It all seemed
like a dream, Riggen said, but getting there was no easy task.
"It was my first full-length feature. We had no money, no
time, and people told me I was crazy to even try" to make the
movie, Riggen told Reuters.
"Under the Same Moon" tells of a Mexican mother, Rosario,
working illegally as a domestic laborer in Los Angeles while
her son Carlos is left behind in Mexico.
After years apart, the 9-year-old boy decides to risk
everything and cross the border in search of his mother. What
ensues is a tale of the extreme measures immigrants will take
to come to the United States and the harrowing trip they face.
Riggen insists that she never set out to push political
buttons when starting work on the movie three years ago by
developing the script with writer Ligiah Villalobos.
"Immigration wasn't a big topic," she said. "In fact, it
was considered a bad subject as people didn't want to watch
movies about it. But I went ahead because I never thought of
this film in those terms."
LOVE OVER POLITICS
Riggen said she saw the film as a love story between a
mother and child.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the local theater
multiplex. Immigration became a divisive issue in the United
States, making the film not just a heartfelt story but also
relevant to current times.
The director cast Adrian Alonso, now 13 years old and an
accomplished child actor whose credits include "The Legend of
Zorro," to play the son because he's "not the pretty boy type
... but he becomes beautiful because he's loving and smart."
The mother is played by well-known Mexican actress Kate del
Castillo ("Bordertown"), a glamorous star in Mexico but a
servant in Riggen's film. "Ugly Betty" actress America Ferrera
plays a student who smuggles the boy across the border.
Riggen shot the movie on a paltry budget of less than $2
million, and she also had to win respect from the crew as a
first-time director.
"No one believed I could do it," she said. But she was able
to push her cinematographer, Checco Varese, who also happened
to be her husband. "He had to do what I told him," she laughed.
(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Mohammad Zargham)
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