Variety Interview with Diego Luna About ‘Cesar Chavez’

U.S Ripe for Biopic on Cesar Chavez, Luna says

U.S Ripe Biopic on Cesar Chavez,
February 9, 2014 | 12:54AM PT
John Hopewell, Variety

BERLIN –“We’re coming out with ‘Cesar Chavez’ at the right moment in the States,” said its director, Diego Luna, of the celebration of the U.S. civil rights activist and his legacy, which world premieres Wednesday in Berlin.

“There’s a big debate in the U.S. about immigration reform,” he went on. “We need to reflect on who’s feeding this country today, why this community has been ignored. There’s still much injustice and inequality.”

Lead-produced by Mexico City/L.A. based Canana, run by Gael Garcia Bernal, Luna, Pablo Cruz and Julian Levin, the Berlinale Special Gala stars Michael Pena as Chavez, a first-generation American who from the early ‘60s fought and finally won basic rights in the U.S. for migrant farm workers, such as minimum wages and collective bargaining.

America Ferrara plays his wife, Rosario Dawson fellow labor-leader Dolores Huerta, John Malkovich an industrial grape farm boss, Chavez’s would-be nemesis.