Program Guide - San Francisco International Film Festival - San ...

Big Nights
54
La Mission
WeST coaST premIere
Usa
2009
117 Min
DiR Peter Bratt
PRoD Peter Bratt, Benjamin Bratt, Alpita Patel
sCR Peter Bratt
CaM Hiro Narita
ED Stan Webb
MUs Mark Kilian
CasT Benjamin Bratt, Erika Alexander, Jeremy
Ray Valdez, Jesse Borrego, Talisa Soto Bratt
PRinT soURCE San Francisco Film Commission,
City Hall, Room 473, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett
Plaza, San Francisco, CA 94102. FAX: 415-
554-6503. EMAIL: peterbratt@yahoo.com.
CaUsEs Bay Area Community, Family Issues,
LGBT Issues
Peter Bratt’s powerful and moving film is an ardent love
letter to the vibrancy of San Francisco’s Mission District
and an urgent corrective to the violence that plays out in
its streets. Full of affection for its characters and despair
for their situations, La Mission is a story of community
and family and one man’s struggle to unlearn a lifetime
of destructive habits. Che, in a commanding performance
by Benjamin Bratt, is an ex-con who has turned his life
around and now devotes himself to his lifelong Mission
Boyz friends, his passion for building classic lowrider
cruisers and his honor student son, Jess (Jeremy Ray
Valdez). On the eve of Jess’s graduation, as Che’s new
romance with an attractive neighbor (Erika Alexander)
starts to bud, a sudden revelation shatters the peace,
drawing a brutal reaction from Che. Lashing out at
those around him, he finds himself emotionally broken
and isolated, before beginning a hard climb toward
understanding and acceptance. And it is a hard climb.
Handsome, charismatic bad-ass though he may be, Che
gets no slack from best friend Rene (Jesse Borrego)
or his pals, all of whom are trying to live decent lives in
difficult circumstances, and doing a better job of it. The
film’s greatest virtue, and the crux of Che’s redemptive
journey, is its refusal to accept violence as a necessary
outcome of, far less a solution to, troubling conditions. Full
of compassion and love, La Mission is not only tough but
hopeful, beautiful and true.
—Graham Leggat
oPEninG niGHT
THUrSdaY, aprIl 23
FiLM
7:00 pm caSTro THeaTre
429 caSTro STreeT (Near marKeT)
PaRTY
9:30 pm BrUNo’S/el capITaN
2389 mISSIoN STreeT (19TH/20TH)
The 52nd San Francisco International Film Festival kicks
off with a premiere screening, special guests and a
festive celebration with live entertainment, dancing, hors
d’oeuvres, drinks and a complimentary gift bag. Director
Peter Bratt and actors Benjamin Bratt, Erika Alexander,
Jeremy Ray Valdez and Talisa Soto-Bratt are expected to
attend the evening’s screening. After the film, celebrate
Opening Night Mission style at two historic venues, the
iconic Bruno’s and an adjoining outdoor setting within the
remains of the former El Capitan theater. Treat yourself
to cool cocktails and international culinary delights while
dancing to the Latin beats of salsa and rumba. You must
be 21+ to attend the party.
PETER BRaTT
San Francisco–based Peter Bratt’s well-received independent
debut feature, Follow Me Home, screened at SFIFF in 1996.
He is back in 2009 with La Mission, which stars his brother,
actor Benjamin Bratt. Follow Me Home explored race and
identity from the multiple perspectives of Chicanos, African
Americans, and Native Americans. The film earned Bratt the best
director award at the American Indian Film Festival as well as the
Audience Award at SFIFF.
THU apr 23 7:00 caSTro opeN FIlm & parTY
THU apr 23 7:00 caSTro opeNv vIp FIlm & parTY