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New York Locations:
AMC Empire 25
234 West 42nd Street
(Near 8th Avenue)
New York, NY 10036
1-888-AMC-4FUN
Showtimes Here
Clearview's Chelsea
260 West 23rd Street
(Near 8th Avenue)
New York, NY 10011
(212) 777-FILM
Showtimes Here
Statement from the filmmakers,
Peter and Benjamin Bratt
Dear Friends,
It is with great pride in the efforts of literally hundreds of people that we write to tell you that our film La MISSION will have its national theatrical release beginning April 9th.
La MISSION pays homage to the neighborhood and people we grew up around, and captures the vibrancy, cultural pride, flavor and sound of this ever-evolving barrio. At the center of the story is Che, an old school reformed bad boy and single father who has dedicated his life to raising his 18 year-old son. Jess is a UCLA-bound honors student who is hiding a deeply-held secret from his macho father: he's gay.
La MISSION doesn't pull any punches. It takes a hard look at some of the prevailing attitudes that still thrive and do damage within our communities. But La MISSION also celebrates the humor, the sense of pride, and the passion for life that exists alongside the everyday struggles.
Opening weekend attendance is critical. The box office totals determine the life expectancy of the film, including its afterlife on DVD. If you, as we do, want to see more films that are authentically representative of our experiences and our communities, we urge you to support independent filmmaking by showing up at the theaters and buying tickets. It's the only message exhibitors understand--they only run films that will bring in large crowds.
Please check our website (www.lamissionthemovie.com) and also become a fan of La Mission on Facebook. There you will find details on what cities and theaters we are playing in, plus photos and information on the film and its crew.
Thanks for supporting independent cinema, and a heartfelt thanks from us for your support of La MISSION.
La MISSION pays homage to the neighborhood and people we grew up around, and captures the vibrancy, cultural pride, flavor and sound of this ever-evolving barrio. At the center of the story is Che, an old school reformed bad boy and single father who has dedicated his life to raising his 18 year-old son. Jess is a UCLA-bound honors student who is hiding a deeply-held secret from his macho father: he's gay.
La MISSION doesn't pull any punches. It takes a hard look at some of the prevailing attitudes that still thrive and do damage within our communities. But La MISSION also celebrates the humor, the sense of pride, and the passion for life that exists alongside the everyday struggles.
Opening weekend attendance is critical. The box office totals determine the life expectancy of the film, including its afterlife on DVD. If you, as we do, want to see more films that are authentically representative of our experiences and our communities, we urge you to support independent filmmaking by showing up at the theaters and buying tickets. It's the only message exhibitors understand--they only run films that will bring in large crowds.
Please check our website (www.lamissionthemovie.com) and also become a fan of La Mission on Facebook. There you will find details on what cities and theaters we are playing in, plus photos and information on the film and its crew.
Thanks for supporting independent cinema, and a heartfelt thanks from us for your support of La MISSION.
Power to the people!
Peter and Benjamin
ROD's Comments:
Special THANKS to Ralph Emerson of GBMNews.com for giving me a heads up and notifying me about this film.I watched the trailer and the film looks pretty good and the cinematography looks nice as well, especially the LUSH night time scene I saw.
Part of Nubian Knights Network's mission is to promote positive stories and images about the African Diaspora (as well as other people of color Diasporas). So, with that said, it's a blessing to be able to post information about this film.
HOWEVER, my caveat or ONLY complaint upon seeing the trailer (haven't seen the film yet and just got word that it is NOW playing in New York City in two theaters) is the BULLSHIT once again with the trend of showing a person of color (in this case a young Latino male) with a white european LOVER/boyfriend interest. This continues to reinforce the notion (that I know is NOT true) that a person of color (African, Latino, Asian/Pacific Islander, Natve American, Indian, etc.) cannot have a successful, fruitful and loving relationship unless the person is white.
La Mission is written by Peter Bratt who is Latino (and from San Francisco which is overwhelmingly white in poulation), so I don't know if his thinking in having a white lover as a character was a personal and subjective idea or choice of how he sees what a "gay" (not talking same gender loving here) couple would look like, or perhaps he was playing politics by casting a white actor to draw and appeal to the white (gay) audience.
All speculation on my part in reference to this film, but this continuous trend is something that I have had numerous conversations with other Black SGL bruthaz from time to time ,and I am NOT the ONLY one who thinks this. This pattern of a Black/white or Latino/white lover couple has been seen in such projects as the HBO series Six Feet Under, the Indy film Brother To Brother (2004) (as much as I LOVE this film I gotta still call it out), the 1976 film Norman... Is That You?, Punks (2000) (bruthaz chasing after white boys in the clubs), Looking For Langston (1988), Young Soul Rebels (1991) and most recently the new Black comedy Death At A Funeral (2010) where we discover in the trailer that the Black male person who passed away (despite being married) was on the "DL" (down low) and had a white male lover on the side.
What's troubling is that some of these film and tv projects are made by Black filmmakers as much as white filmmakers. So... what does this say about the larger Black community and how they perceive us, the Black SGL community (which by the way, we are largely INVISIBLE when it comes to any public or political standings; and when we are seen in the media, we are usually paired up with someone white such as the "gay" marriage agenda).
I know how I see myself with cultural affirmation and self-determination of the African Diaspora which includes, but not limited to my sexual identity (same gender loving), but also... how does these images make us (Black SGL folks) perceive ourselves?
Just sayin' ...
In any event, this is not to take away from supporting and seein' La Mission. My friend Jair, The Literary Masturbator, saw it last year and thought it was well done. I'll check it out when it hits NYC.
ROD
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Thanx Rod for the heads up. Been a Bratt fan since forever and I'm glad he's done this film.
ReplyDeleteI know what you're saying about inter-racial relationships, but I also think it is another aspect of intolerance in society that needs to be dealt with - so I see both sides of the issue.
Yes, we do need more affirmative black gay couples on screen, no doubt. But since the mixed ones -- like Jill Scott said recently about straight mixed couples -- still give us that twinge of discomfort, the issue needs to be brought up and parsed as much as possible.
Like in Dirty Laundry, the issue of a gay son was almost eclipsed by the fact that his lover was white. Race is still a real problem in society from all sides, and I think the more we see interracial couples (not to the exclusion of positive blk male couples which we direly need) the more the issue will become less important.
Thats my two cents. I gotta check out this film soon .....
Hey Taylor,
ReplyDeleteIt's been a long ass minute since I have seen you (at BMX) my brutha. Hope things are qool with you and the SGL Cafe. I miss you man!
Hmmm... I didn't realize my comments about the ethnicity thing would raise eyebrows; I've gotta a couple of comments and one other similar to yours.
I see, listen and respect what you're saying Taylor. My issue is not with the idea or judgment of inter-racial intolerance; I do have a serious axe to grind when it comes to not seeing myself reflected on screen (enough) where there's a lack of positive Black-on-Black male (and female) same gender loving relationships. It was marvelously done in some films such as DAKAN (1997) and more recently in Rag Tag (2006) and Blueprint (2007).
There are multi-layered reasons in the real world that a Black person dates outside their race, the least of which is seeking and finding a quality person one likes, economic status (class) and a host of other things too numerous to get into (which have been discussed and deconstructed thoroughly at powerful BMX-NY discussion sessions).
Again, artistic and political decisions are being made behind-the-scenes when it comes to the above story elements being incorporated into the script, and I know a lot of SGL bruthaz feel the way I do with a lack of positive and affirming Black-on-Black male images. In my sphere of circles pro-Black doesn't mean anti-white. It's simply cultural affirmation.
--
ROD (aka BIG ROD)