By Liz Lopez
Source: Cine las Americas and Tejano the movie
After a successful festival run, having won numerous awards including the 2018 Dallas International Film Festival Audience Award, “Tejano,” a feature-length thriller, had its Austin premiere at Violet Crown Cinema on January 16, 2019 with the filmmaker, David Blue Garcia in attendance.
“Tejano” is the story of Javi (Patrick Mackie), a South Texas farmhand who lives and works alongside his grandfather, Arturo (Roland Hector Uribe). When Arturo suddenly becomes ill, Javi resorts to the extreme: he turns to a Mexican cartel to make some quick cash. But when the cartel breaks his arm and forces him to smuggle a cast made of cocaine across the Mexican border, Javi learns how far he will go for family.
Tejano” is the feature-length directorial debut of Austin-based filmmaker David Blue Garcia who has been called “an exciting new filmmaking voice,” by the Calgary International Film Festival.
Watch the Tejano trailer here: https://vimeo.com/266165858
Garcia chose to set his first film in the Rio Grande Valley along the Texas-Mexico border where he was born and raised. “Growing up I was always fascinated with the border’s culture, and how it maintained a distinct identity from the rest of Texas and from Mexico,” says Garcia.
“Tejano” touches on many of the issues that affect South Texas including the border wall, the drug trade, cartel violence, immigration law, and health care. The film also captures the unique voice of the region by featuring both English and Spanish dialogue spoken by the bilingual cast of Texas-born actors.
The featured cast includes Patrick Mackie (McAllen), Hector Uribe (Brownsville), Adrian Gonzalez (Brownsville), Mayra Leal (Houston), Emma Perez Treviño (Harlingen), Daniel Castaneda (Harlingen), Efrain Valdez (San Benito) and Pedro Garcia (McAllen).
“Tejano” is being presented through Cine Las Americas special events as an example of a strong, Texas made film, that features a border culture not often depicted on screen and an exciting new take on a familiar story. “It is rare for a film to capture and present the nuances of Texan Mexican American communities the way that ‘Tejano’ does,” says Cine Las Americas Executive Director Jean Anne Lauer. She continues, “We are excited to share this film with Austin audiences ahead of its VOD release this spring, and we hope that it inspires other Austin-based and Texas-based filmmakers to tell their stories.”
“Tejano” will continue with reprisal screenings on Thursday, January 17th at 7:00 and 9:30 p.m., at Violet Crown Cinema (434 W 2nd St, Austin) followed by reprisal screenings on Sunday, January 20th at 11am and Tuesday, January 22nd at 7:30pm. The full schedule is at www.cinelasamericas.org and for ticket information, visit www.violetcrown.com
Action/Thriller Running time: 90 minutes Rating: No Rating (between Pg-13 and R for language and violence)
“Tejano” was filmed on location in the Rio Grande Valley by Valley residents and natives. Locations include South Padre Island, Brownsville, McAllen, Harlingen and Nuevo Progresso.
Produced and Directed by David Blue Garcia, a native of Harlingen, who came back to the Valley to make his first feature length film.
Director’s Bio: David Blue Garcia is an Emmy award-winning Director / Cinematographer who was born and raised in South Texas and is currently based in Austin, Texas. He has worked as a cinematographer on 6 narrative feature films. “Tejano” is David’s feature length directorial debut.
For more information, visit www.facebook.com/tejanothemovie