Dora Peña - Director of "Dream Healing" showing Sunday at Cinefestival '10
Dora Peña is a San Antonio-based filmmaker and this weekend, her feature film Dream Healing will close the 32nd annual Cinefestival Latino Film Festival at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center Sunday February 7th at 2:00 pm. Dream Healing stars Gabi Walker, Jesse Borrego, Evie A. Armstrong and Bleu Wenzel. In advance of the screening, we put the questions to Peña to find out more about the project.
What is “Dream Healing”?
Dream Healing is my first feature film. It’s a metaphysical thriller about a girl named Clara (which means ‘clear’ in Spanish) who can give insomniacs the best sleep of their life. Clara is being exploited by her aunt until a couple of new neighbors move in down the street. It’s a coming of age story that also deals with things like sexual/child abuse, divorce, and relationships.
What was the genesis of the script?
The story was inspired by an article about insomnia that really interested me because I’m often an insomniac. There were also different things that came up in the news over the years that I wrote the story that show up in the film, like the war, San Antonio’s battle with high child abuse rates. My friend did a stint as a social worker and that gave me Jesse Borrego’s character as a burnt out social worker turned high school counselor.
One of the fondest memories of my childhood is all 8 of us in my parents bed listening to my dad tell a story then falling asleep on their bed. So I inherited the storytelling from my daddy who (aside from my husband) is still the first person I run story ideas by when writing. I started writing as early as I can remember.
You shot entirely in San Antonio. Why is that?
For convenience, we live here and have our family here, the support from our family with babysitting was something we knew we could count on if we shot here. I love the city and its diversity – for my first short I was able to use a southside neighborhood as Los Angeles so I knew the right locations were here we just had to find them.
We shot in four houses of the King William neighborhood. We also used SaySi and a skatepark scene that never made it into the film.
What is Cinefestival?
Cinefestival is the longest running Latino film festival in the country. The 32nd installment begins Thursday February 4 and runs through Sunday February 7th at the Guadalupe Theater. Our feature Dream Healing will close the festival on Sunday at 2pm.
You’re a past-President of the San Antonio branch of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers. How has that affected your work?
Getting involved with NALIP made me see how much need there was for Latino stories, especially for the Latin-American audience. We’re so diverse, and while we love entertainment, we’re still underrepresented on the screen. But I think progress is happening slowly. I remember being little and getting really excited when I saw someone that looked like me doing what I hoped to do one day. It was so rare. I’m glad the new generations get to see something different even if they don’t know the difference.
I also write for women, I think we’re another under-served audience. I like to write roles that portray strong women, women that make things happen.
Do you like genre films?
I like all kinds of film really. Except horror, I can’t watch horror films because I get nightmares and my mind does enough of its own tormenting me that it doesn’t need any help.
I loved Avatar. I like Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings. Anything by Guillermo del Toro is cool, too. Magical stuff, I dig.
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