‘Pancho’ an ‘Animal House’ with heart
by Chuck Graham on Mar. 22, 2007, under Calendar
In the past several months, four Tucsonans have completed feature-length films, held their local premiere screenings and started looking for a distributor.
The latest of these is Ruben Reyes, booking two weekends at the downtown Screening Room, 127 E. Congress St., to showcase his first feature-length film, “Pancho Goes To College.”
The other filmmakers are Justin Kreinbrink (“The Decoy”), Patrick Roddy (“Mercy”) and Charles Briles (“Romance at Frisky’s Bar”).
Reyes is best known by day as the district director for congressman Raúl Grijalva. Reyes may be better known in television circles for the 13 years he worked at the Tucson affiliate of Telemundo, producing, writing and appearing on camera.
“My inspiration was ‘Animal House,’” chuckled Reyes, who is both writer and director.
But the makers of “Animal House,” cult favorite that it is, would be happy to give their best beer bong for a film with as much heart as “Pancho Goes To College.”
Yes, there are lots of hilarious party scenes, with college guys doing all the stupid things college guys feel compelled to do in their search for good times and a cute girl.
However, Reyes is also a political animal with a lot of sympathy in his own house for the extra challenge Latinos face on a predominately white college campus, often as the first members of their families to go to college.
“All the stories in the movie actually happened to me or to friends of mine at the University of Arizona,” said Reyes, who graduated in 1988.
Trust me, there aren’t any stories involving heavy drugs or anything too illegal. There are lots of stories about four young men from very different backgrounds who face defining conflicts that will decide who they are for the rest of their lives.
“My intent was just to show college life, the good and the bad,” Reyes said. “It is more complicated than a road movie.
“Guys are falling asleep in class, wooing the ladies, working part-time jobs, learning what it’s like to be a college student as school turns into something completely different from what they thought.”
The main players are Pancho (Chris Glenn Romero), Emiliano (Camiliano Juarez), Kiko (Bardo Padilla), Bogie (Rigoberto Valencia), Xochitl (Miroslava Hernandez) and Maya (Darlane Santa Cruz).
About half the dialogue is in Spanish, with some Spanglish and subtitles to keep the English-only speakers in the game. It is worth noting, too, that the female students in “Pancho Goes To College” have got it more together than the guys.
It is a part of the movie that the young women have a tough time deciding which of these doofus fellows will most likely turn out to be responsible men in later life.
Reyes applies his personal experience and his street cred to delve much deeper than other filmmakers have to to portray the social divisions within Latino culture. In that respect, his film recalls Spike Lee’s own picture of African-American racism in college, “School Daze.”
Of the four students whose adventures we follow, one is accused of being a “gringo wannabe,” another is from a wealthy family in northern Mexico and doesn’t speak any English – though he looks terrific in a cowboy hat. Then, of course, there is the radical activist determined that everyone he knows should stand up to The Man.
In one of the key scenes at a campus meeting, several students get into an intense round of bigoted Latino name-calling.
While it is funny to hear these very politically incorrect accusations being hurled about as the anger mounts, it will also tug at your awareness of the cruelty in racist labels and insulting stereotypes.
“The movie isn’t about Latino students; it is about everybody,” Reyes said. “Do they want to be in the In Crowd? Does the In Crowd want them.
“I think the theme of figuring out who you are and how to fit in – that’s universal.”
The film has already been accepted to the Cine Las Americas International Film Festival in Austin, Texas, from April 19-26. It will play here at the Arizona International Film Festival next month, as well, April 20-29.
“There is a long list of film festivals I’d like to enter,” Reyes said. “But just submitting an entry can cost $30 to $50.” In October is the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, high on Reyes’ list, as well as several Latino film festivals in the big cities back East.
“I’m very interested in seeing how the slang in the film plays in East Los Angeles, for example, versus New York,” Reyes said. “Just because it has credibility in one doesn’t get it in the other.”
———
IF YOU GO
What: Premiere screening of “Pancho Goes To College” by writer-director Ruben Reyes
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, 6 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday, 7:30 p.m. March 29-30, 6 and 8 p.m. March 31.
Where: Screening Room, 127 E. Congress St.
Price: $6
Information: 882-0204, www.panchogoestocollege.com
