Every month we bring you #coachellamagazinetalkradio — A contemporary art+culture podcast.
El Chicano screened during the 30th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival on January 8 and 9 at Mary Pickford is D’Place. El Chicano, director Ben Hernandez Bray took a moment to chat with host Treem Heff about the all Latino cast and crew coming together to create the first Latino Superhero film (El Chicano) to hit theaters nationally on May 3.
In the late 1980‘s Ben Bray’s boxing skills led him into the stunt industry where he then became one of the very few successful Latino stuntmen in Hollywood and eventually becoming one of the top action stunt coordinators and second unit directors, working specifically with “Smoking Aces” Joe Carnahan and “Silver Linings Playbook” David O Russell.
“The whole idea of the film came about (because) I lost a brother to gang violence 12 years ago. And I started writing a memoir about his life and through the process I realized that there is not a reference to minorities, there isn’t any superhero themes of color of our ethnicity.”
“I just wanted to make sure that I pushed a grounded story about culture, about choices you make in life, family, and then secondary being this superhero thing.”
“The mask itself was kind of a combination of hiding his identity but also having this authenticity of the culture itself, like the Aztec calendar.”
“It’s perfect timing. Everything happened for a reason. Unfortunately, my brother passed away and then my daughter… and then this whole Trumpism and all this craziness that’s going on with the wall that’s separating families and the children dying, and it’s like, it’s a crazy time. And you know it’s like, I think it’s something that we need out there.”
Coachella Magazine Talk Radio: Ep. Nº3
Host Treem Heff
With special guest Director/Writer of “El Chicano” Ben Bray
Directed, shot, edited & produced by Jorge Perezchica
Special thanks to sponsors:
Palm Springs Grip & Lighting
King’s Highway
Robyn Tornabeni Productions
Available on major platforms.
