Lauded Film Comes to Lobo
Friday, September 8, 1995
by David Steinberg
"...and the earth did not swallow him," a made for public TV
feature film about the coming of age of a young Hispanic migrant worker, will be screened
at the Lobo Theatre starting today.
The film, which was named Best Feature at the 1995 San Antonio
CineFestival was produced by former Albuquerque resident Paul Espinosa.
The movie is set in l952 when 12-year old Marcos Gonzales, a quiet but
curious youth, begins to wonder about how he couldn't recall the events of the previous
year.
Marcos' parents leave him with friends so he can attend the same school
all year, but he soon gets in trouble and thinks about making a pact with the devil to
change his life.
Espinosa said the film, to be aired next spring on "'American
Playhouse"' on PBS, was financed largely by a $12 million grant from the National
Endowment for the Humanities.
The 1994 film is based on the Tomas Rivera's novel of the same name,
which has become a Chicano classic and has remained in print since it was published in
1971.
It has been distributed in theater's nationally since last June when it
debuted in Los Angeles.
A Los Angeles Times review of the movie said it is "as sincere and
earnest as the Mexican-American family it depicts with such love and respect."
Espinosa, who works as a producer, writer and director at KPBS-TV in
San Diego, was born in Alamosa, Colo., and graduated from Albuquerque's Highland High
School in l968.
Over the last seven years he has produced programs about Chicanos and
U.S.-Mexican issues for national public television. Espinosa's films include "The
Lemon Grove Incident," "The Hunt for Pancho Villa," "Uneasy
Neighbors," "Los Mineros," and "In the Shadow of the Law." They
have won seven Emmys and two Blue Ribbons at the American Film Festival.
"It is a film that profits from being on the big screen,"
Espinosa said. "It's very lushly shot. It was partly shot in rural Minnesota. The
cinematographer, Virgil Harper, did a great job of bringing the rich palette of colors to
the screen."
The film was also named "Best of the Fest at the 1994 Santa
Barbara International Film Festival and Severo Perez received Best Director Award from the
1994 Cairo International Film Festival.
"For an independent film going on the festival circuit is good to
build name recognition and visibility for a film," Espinosa said.
He will be in Albuquerque this weekend for several events.
A reception will be held in his honor from 4-6 p.m. today in the Center
for Southwset Research in UNM's Zimmerman library.
Espinosa will answer audience questions after today's 7:30 p.m.
screening and Saturday's 3 p.m. showing at the Lobo Theatre.