WE'RE GOING TO SUNDANCE

I got a call from Sundance on Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I was told that my film, La Tragedia de Macario, would be part of this year's (2006) Sundance Film Festival. Click for more info about Sundance. Click here for more info on my film.

Contact

CONTACT CINEVELIZ
Send a message to info@cineveliz.com for info about any upcoming projects.

If you would like to be consider for an acting role for our upcoming projects, please emails us your resume and a headshot to casting@cineveliz.com. You can also leave us a message or a fax at 1-831-302-5164. Please make sure to leave your name, agency, number, and an intention.

Photos

Cast

CLEMENTE CAST

LEAD ACTOR

Jorge Jimenez was raised in Zaragoza, Mexico. In 2003, he graduated from Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, where he studied directing and acting. Upon graduating, Jimenez moved to Miami and worked in a variety of commercials, television shows and novelas. He has appeared in Al Filo de la Ley, a series on Univision, El Amor No Tiene Precio, a novela from Televisa, and also participated in the film I Love Miami among other things. Jimenez portrayed the lead character in Clemente. He prepared himself for the role of Clemente by interviewing people and listening to the stories of the many people his character represents. He currently starred in a short film and is beginning to work on his next project.

LEAD ACTRESS

Mariana Wachter was born in San Antonio, Texas, in 1997. In 2003 she moved with her family to San Miguel de Allende and lived there until 2005. While in Mexico, she began taking violin lessons and also improved her Spanish. She recently entered the third grade at Locke Hill Elementary in San Antonio. Wachter played the character of Dalia, the lead girl in the film Clemente. This is Wachter’s first foray into acting. She is interested in taking acting lessons and plans to continue working in other films.

FEMALE LEAD

Kristel Lara currently attends Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio where she studies business finance and acting. At William Taft High School in San Antonio, she was the lead female in several plays and musicals and received many local theatre awards. Clemente is her first feature length film. She plans to continue her acting career shortly after graduating from college.

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Pedro Garcia, Jr. began acting in 1987 when he joined the prestigious “La Compania de Teatro de Alburquerque.” His movie credits include Mad Love (1995) with Drew Barrymore and Chris O’Donnell, and Pain Flower (1996), among numerous others. He made his directorial debut with his film, “El Sueño De Dolores.” He is the founder of “Teatro Nuestra Cultura” based out of the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. Garcia also teaches acting and directing workshops year-round and currently resides in McAllen, Texas.

Crew

CINEVELIZ, INC. is a production company based in San Antonio. Comprised by a group of filmmakers CINEVELIZ’s goals are to create inspiring films. Executive Director, Pablo Véliz established the company in 2005 and since then has produced two feature films and plans on creating 5 more picture in 2007.

WRITER / DIRECTOR

Pablo Véliz was born in Mexico in 1982, and spent his formative years in San Antonio, Texas, where he currently resides. In 2006, he graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a degree in communication. His participation at SAY Sí, an after school visual and media arts program, led him to a pursuit for the arts. Véliz is a painter, chef, mechanic, and musician. At age 22, Véliz wrote, directed, produced, edited and sound recorded his first feature film, La Tragedia de Macario, which was selected to participate in the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. The film is based on the worst immigrant tragedy in American history. Through interviews and personal research, Véliz transformed this tragedy into a film detailing the struggle of the Mexican immigrant. Recently, Véliz finished shooting Clemente, a film inspired by the continuous struggle immigrants face once they arrive in the United States and try to create a home in their new country.

CINEMATOGRAPHER

Brian Gonzalez was born in San Antonio, Texas, in 1987. He began his film career as a sophomore in high school and as an active member of the San Antonio SAY Si Media Arts program. At age 16, he received a spot at the Austin Film Festival for Best Youth Film. At age 17 and under the mentorship of filmmaker Michael Verdi, Gonzalez was one of the first to take on videoblogging, gaining him the attention of director Pablo Véliz. Gonzalez’s first feature film as Director of Photography was Véliz’s La Tragedia de Macario. Clemente is the second feature film that Gonzalez has photographed. Recently, he won the FYI Film Your Issue Film Festival for a short he directed called It’s the Buzz, featured on mtvU, PBS online and IFC’s Media Labs. He also just finished directing his short film, Eyes of a Blue Dog, based on the short story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Currently, Gonzalez attends the School of Visual Arts in New York where he studies cinematography.

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR / CO-PRODUCER

Victor Agustin was born in 1984 in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, and raised in San Antonio, Texas. He is an actor in many surrounding Texas film and commercial communities. Agustin has been a part of CineVeliz, the production company of La Tragedia de Macario and Clemente since its beginning. He portrayed Felipe in La Tragedia de Macario while also serving as the assistant director for the film. For Clemente, Agustin’s focus and involvement was more on the production aspect in which he served as assistant director and associate producer.

ACTING COACH / CO-PRODUCER

Jeff Horny was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. He attended college at Texas A&M where he studied communication. Horny has been in the entertainment industry for more than 20 years. He moved to Los Angeles in 1994 where he learned all aspects of the industry including acting, directing and producing. He has been cast in various feature and lead roles in television, film and theatre including The Drew Carey Show, Party of Five and Pickett Fences. Horny was the producer of La Tragedia de Macario and was a co-producer, consultant and on-set acting coach for Clemente. Currently, he has his own production company in Texas where he directs and produces commercials and has other films in development.

Press

La Tragedia de Macario PRESS MATERIAL

Interview with Norberto Hernandez. UNIVISION 41 KWEX. May 31, 2005. Click image to view clip.

Interview with Joe Vithayathil. FOX News at 9. KABB 29. December 2005. Click image to view clip.

Interview with Norberto Hernandez. UNIVISION 41 KWEX. December 2005. Click image to view clip.

Interview with Lesley in SA Living. WOAI 4. December 2005. Click image to view clip.

Awards & Screenings

Additional screenings for "CLEMENTE".
For those of you that were unable to attend the premier of our second feature film "CLEMENTE" and have asked about additional screenings, we will be having 2 screenings in November as of now. However, there is a possiblity for more and I will post that information if and when it becomes available.

The first screening will be held on November 12, 2006 at Instituto de Mexico en San Antonio from 4:00PM-6:00PM.600 Hemis Fair PlazaSan Antonio, TX 78205Phone: 210-227-0123 There will be a reception w/food and drinks following the screening.

The second screening will he held on Thursday November 16, 2006 from 7:00 to 10:00pm at The Buena Vista Theatre (BV 1.326)at the UTSA Downtown Campus501 W. Durango BlvdSan Antonio, TX 78207 Phone: (210) 458-2700. Also be sure to view our website WWW.CINEVELIZ.COM for details.

Thank you for your support and interest in our projects and we look forward to seeing you there!

Clemente, the new film by Pablo Veliz that follows the saga of the immigrant struggle will screen again...

INSTITUTO DE MEXICO
November 12 at 4:00OPM
600 Hemis Fair Plaza
San Antonio, TX 78205
Reception will follow screening and admission is free.

and...

UTSA DOWNTOWN CAMPUS
The Buena Vista Theatre (BV 1.326) at the Downtown Campus on Thursday November 16, 2006 at 7:00 PM. Admission is free.
Pablo Veliz's latest film, CLEMENTE, screened October 7th at Trinity University's Laurie Auditorium, to more than 1200 people. Here are links to the reviews.


La Tragedia de Macario



FILM SCREENINGS AND SCHEDULE

April 02, 2005. Grand Premiere. 7:00 PM ­ 9:00PM. Featuring the opening movie theme song by “Flechazo del Norte”. 1400 San Pedro Ave.
San Antonio, Texas 78213


April 14, 2005. UTSA Communication Department screens movie as part of Communication week. HSS building 2.01.30, 1604 Campus. 6900 N. Loop 1604 West—San Antonio, TX 78249


May 3-4. 2005. Screening and winner of best feature film at the Cine Cuauhtemoc Pan American Film Festival. A project of Museo Guadalupe Aztlan)
3004 Bagby, Houston, TX 77006


November 9, 2005. University of Incarnate Word screens movie at the Mabee Auditorium. 4301 Broadway, San Antonio, Texas 78209


October. PBS Regional Premiere. PBS premieres La Tragedia de Macario on October 9th at 2:00 PM and October 15th at 10:00 PM.


November 18, 2005. Guadalupe 28th Annual Cinefestival Screening. 8:00 PM. Guadalupe Theater, 1300 Guadalupe Street.
San Antonio, TX 78207


November 30, 2005. UTSA Diversity week screening. Wednesday, November 30th, 7:00-9:00, MB 0.106. Discussion facilitated by Carol Adams-Means with writer/director Pablo Véliz. 6900 N. Loop 1604 West—San Antonio, TX 78249


December 15, 2005. Screening at the Laredo Center for the Arts, Thursday at 7:00pm. 500 San Agustin Ave Laredo, TX 78040.

January 13. Screening at the Mexican Consulate (for community leaders). 127 Navarro St, San Antonio, 78205 - (210) 227-9145

January 19-29, 2006. World premiere at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. Park City, Utah

January 20, 2:30pm, Library Center Theatre
January 21, 7:30pm, Broadway Centre Cinemas VI, SLC
January 23, 9:00am, Egyptian Theatre, Park City
January 26, 8:30pm, Library Center Theatre

They are all in Park City except for the Broadway which is in Salt Lake City.

Screening at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. February 3, 2006 at 7:30 PM. Metro theater 4. February 5th at 10:15 PM. Metro Theater 4.

Screening at the AGAVE Mexican Restaurant. Saturday, Feb. 25th at 6:00 p.m
3302 Pleasanton Rd. San Antonio, Tx. 78221 Sponsored by the Rios Family
Phone# (210) 923-8454 and friends of CINEVELIZ.

Screening at the SXSW Film Festival. Locations and times TBA.

Screening at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin. Wednesday, April 19, 2006 at 7:00 PM. 409 Colorado St. Downtown, 78701. Phone#: (512) 476-1320 and friends of CINEVELIZ.

Future screenings TBA.

Projects

CLEMENTE


LA TRAGEDIA DE MACARIO

La Tragedia de Macario

SYNOPSIS OF THE FILM
Macario, a local peasant in Sabinas Hidalgo, Mexico, struggles for a dignified life for he and his wife Regina. He often contemplates crossing the border to the United States, where he could find work and a better life. Along with his best friend, Felipe, he takes the brave step into an unknown world. The two along with 17 other immigrants entrust a Coyote (human trafficker) with their lives and money to cross them over to the so-called “American Dream” inside a train wagon. The Coyote neglects the lives of the immigrants trapped inside the train wagon where Macario and the rest struggle to stay alive. Before his agonizing death by asphyxiation, dehydration and heat exposure, Macario receives heavenly comfort and a message of hope from La Virgen Maria (Virgin Mary).

THE CREATION OF LA TRAGEDIA
The original idea of the movie was inspired by the events of real immigrant stories as they attempt to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.On the night of May 14, 2003, on a highway outside of Victoria, Texas, 19 people died of asphyxiation, dehydration and heat exposure inside of a locked, double-insulated trailer truck. Through interviews and personal research, Véliz transformed this tragedy into a film and tells the story of the struggle of the Mexican immigrant. The film was shot in Texas during the months of January and February of 2005. It was later premiered on April 2 in San Antonio to an audience of 800.

THE GOODBYE (scene 24)
Macario and Felipe say their final goodbyes as they set out on their journey. Knowing very well that they may never see them again, Regina and Lupita can only pray as they watch their husbands walk towards the "American Dream." In their journey Macario and Felipe encounter a Coyote. A Coyote is a human trafficker. Typically, a Coyote traffics illegal immigrants from Mexico, Central and South America into the United States for a hefty sum of money. Often, these Coyotes have little concern for human treatment as they transport their human cargo in the most dangerous and inhumane ways.

ROGELIO RAMOS (Macario)
Rogelio plays the starring role of Macario. Rogelio's previous work includes commercial work as well as film. He now lives in Hollywood, CA, where he continues his career as an actor. For the film, Rogelio experienced a brief real-life experience of what it is really like to be trapped inside a wagon. Filming the scene where the immigrants exasperate for their lives was the most difficult scene for the entire cast and crew. At this point, we got a quick and alleviated look at what it could have been like in real life. Most of the crew had to take a break and really reflect on what was happening and what really had happened that night, among many other nights when lives are lost in this manner.

MOVIE CREDITS
La Tragedia De Macario (2005)
New Title -
Title: La Tragedia De Macario
Type: film
Sub-Type: feature
Status: released
Year: 2005
Release Dates - September 1, 2006
Country: USA
Date: 2 April 2005
Attribute: (San Antonio, Texas)
Languages
Spanish
Color
Genres - Drama

Directors

Name: Veliz, Pablo
Budget/cassified
Official Sites
Url: http://www.cineveliz.com/
Desc: Official production company website.
Production Companies
Company: Cinematografica Veliz [us]


Cast

Name: Ramos, Rogelio
Character: Macario
Name: Figuero, Milicent
Character: Regina
Name: Rodriguez, Tina
Character: La Virgen de Guadalupe
Name: Agustin, Victor
Character: Felipe
Name: Castro, Juanita
Character: Lupita
Name: Tony Gandara
Character: Hurtado

Composers
Name: Sanchez, Carlos
Name: Veliz, Pablo

Cinematographers
Gonzalez, Brian

Editors
Pablo Veliz

Running Time: 84 minutes
Country: USA
Filming Locations
San Antonio, Texas, USA