In Hollywood films today, only 3% of characters are Latino, but in theater audiences, 10% is African American, 7% is Asian American, and 25% is Latino American. Here to serve the underserved Ben Hernandez Bray presents all-Latino cast, El Chicano. Set to hit theaters nationwide May 3, 2019, El Chicano is quickly making a statement for Latino representation in Hollywood.
The Maryland International Film Festival-Hagerstown kicked off its eighth annual festival March 29th at the Historic Maryland Theatre screening the award-winning best feature film, El Chicano. Following the screening, the City of Hagerstown decided to dedicate May 3rd as El Chicano Day. The festival's Executive Director, Tracie Hovey said, "This film is becoming a movement in not only the film industry but in Latino communities everywhere. We are thrilled that we were able to bring the film to Hagerstown, and that the wave of support has been paramount."
El Chicano tells the story of a pair of twin brothers from East Los Angeles that end up on opposite sides of the law. The movie has underlying political messages of what it means to be a Hispanic-American immigrant in today's' culture. Inspired by director Ben Hernandez Bray's life who lost his brother to street violence, he knew the story would be relatable. Joe Carnahan knew Bray's story and believed in its powerful message. They both agreed that it was a remarkable story to tell and they wanted to make sure they had an accurate representation of the culture with an all-Latino cast.
Together they created a first of its kind all-Latino cast superhero movie. El Chicano is buzzing amongst the film industry to be as significant for the Latino community as Black Panther was for the African American community or the film Crazy Rich Asians was for the Asian community. El Chicano is the second film produced by WarParty, a production company owned by Joe Carnahan and Frank Grillo. In 2018 Briarcliff Entertainment acquired the U. S. rights and planned to release the film in 600-800 theaters across the country.
The first Latino-powered film from end to end—is the more than ten-year passion project of Chicano industry veteran Ben Hernandez Bray, who symbolically tells a story about the loss of his brother and his redemption from his past. The cast is a multigenerational mix of young and iconic Latino talent that includes Rául Castillo, Aimee Garcia, David Castaneda, Marco Rodriguez, Kate Del Castillo, and the incomparable George Lopez.
Less than a week after dropping the official El Chicano trailer it has impressively gained in total more than 4 million views and counting. Once the Latino and Hispanic communities begin to coalesce their voices about equal representation for their community in Hollywood- it's foreseeable that it will be the next significant movement.
