Jay Francis Lopez was born in San Francisco, to an immigrant mom from Trujillo, Honduras. He began acting at an early age in theater, cinema and television; “Sin Padre” is his first feature film. It was shot in just eight days in the Mission and elsewhere in the Bay Area.
The film tells the story of John, a Honduran boy of 17, who is given an assignment at school to write about his personal history, which makes him dig into a past without a father, causing friction with his mother.
Before its release as part of the fourth annual SF Latino Film Festival, El Tecolote had the chance to talk with Lopez about his film.
How did you get into directing?
I always wanted to direct and do my own movies, but I never had the opportunity until last year, when I joined a film group in San Francisco called Asian Mainstream Productions, founded by Maria Fe Picar, producer and co-director of “Sin padre.”
It’s six of us—we all produce; we all write; we all direct; we all act. We have our own equipment and cameras. It’s not just for Asian people, it is for all people of color.
How did you choose your actors and locations?
I looked for my cast in Facebook, Craigslist and SF Casting. And I was an extra in “La Mission,” that’s how I met Alex, Carlos and Cesar, who are in the movie.
We shot in the Bay Area: Mission, East Bay, Daly City. We tried to keep it really authentic. We did not have a major film production; we just worked hard and made an hour-and-a-half movie.
A lot of Hollywood movies you see based on the Latino culture are always based in LA. I think it is about time to see the other side of Latino community. The Mission, Oakland, Fruitvale, New York, Miami, Redwood City…
How important is your heritage in the film?
I am from Honduras. I wanted to give my people a little shine, because a lot of movies are strongly based on the Mexican culture. I wanted to give more recognition and praise to the Central American community. A lot of people who are not Latino, when they think Latin, they think Mexican. They never think of Belize, Chile, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico…
In the Hollywood industry, when they make Latino movies they always make a culture and for us, who are not Mexican, it is really hard to make it diverse when we do not understand the culture.
What audience is your film intended for?
The movie has a Latino cast but it is for every culture. A lot of young women and men never had a father, or they had a father but he was never there, and they do not know how to deal with it.
Being a man, and not having a father myself, it’s very hard to become a male. A mother can never take a father’s place. No matter how hard a mother tries, it’s impossible. She can’t learn how to be a man.
Why did you structure the script around a class assignment?
I’ve been working with kids and teenagers for the past seven years. At the YMCA, Boys and Girls Clubs, Leadership Schools in Oakland … I hear so many stories: “I’ve been molested by my dad, I’m scared; I am being abused by my mom…”
Aside from not having a father myself, it really breaks my heart because I’m 28 now; I’m grown up; I can deal with it now. But when you are 13, 14, or 15 you really are stuck until you really get out of that situation. And at that age, your mind is not developed yet; you’re still learning how to move on.
Did you show them the film?
I went to Redwood City to an immigrant youth group and they invited me to talk to the kids—all Latino kids, whose parents are farmworkers, immigrants who come to the States for a better life.
I showed them the footage and they were amazed it was about them—high school kids. I asked them ‘Who in here doesn’t have a father?’ Five of them raised their hands.
One girl was crying, she was like: “I’m 16 years old, I had my quinceañera [Latina rite of passage] and my dad wasn’t there … you know what I mean? He never raised us, he left my mom.”
Another kid was saying: “My dad beat my mom; I’ve seen it. He left my mom, went to Mexico and he never came back. I’m scared; my girlfriend is pregnant; I do not know how to be a dad.”
I was crying, they were crying. That’s what I wanted. To touch the lives of others and make them realize that you are not alone and that there is hope, but it gets hard at first because you have to forgive. If you can’t forgive you won’t find hope, you won’t have peace in your heart.
Do you see your movie more in that environment rather than with critics in film festivals?
My movie is not for them; my movie is for the youth. The main focus of my movie is forgiveness. For any human generation it is hard to forgive, either if you are molested, raped, someone kills your mom, your dad or your uncle, somebody hits you … People are afraid to forgive. With my film I’m trying to give a nice outlook of what forgiveness is.
“Sin Padre” will be shown: Friday, Sept. 14 at Victoria Theater, SF, 9:30 p.m.; Sunday, Sept. 16 at Opera Plaza Cinema, SF, 5:15 p.m.; Friday, Sept. 28 at MACLA, San Jose as part of SF Latino Film Festival. Meet and greet director and cast Sunday; Sept. 16, 2 p.m.– 4 p.m. at the Verizon Wireless store, 2654 Mission St.
For more info on the film visit www.sinpadremovie.com. For more info on the festival visit www.sflatinofilmfestival.com.