The screening of the movie Journey at the Alamo Drafthouse was both the conclusion and the continuation of the film’s own saga. Interrupted and waylaid by the years of COVID 19, the indie film came to life in Laredo on the big screen at the Drafthouse and 60 theaters across the southwest and California.
Laredo hosted director Cristopher Rodriguez, director of photography Orlando Briones, and assistant producer Karen Gaytan at an evening premier and a Saturday screening.
The Laredo premiere was well received on several counts, among them that part of it was filmed here, that it was well executed, and that its familiar and poignant storyline resonated with relevance to life on the frontera.
Journey was also filmed in Houston and Monterrey with an international cast including Rafael Cebrián, Meaghan Martin, Gustavo Sánchez Parra, Arcelia Ramírez, Mario Zaragoza, Angela Rawna, Joel Nagle, and local extras.
The movie is a heart-wrenching tale of peril, one repeated all too frequently across our country. Brought to U.S. when he was a child and raised here, a young man is suddenly apprehended and faces the bewilderment of deportation, a morass of procedure, and the prospect of never being able to return to his family in the United States.
And so, the journey begins.
The film sets off introspection for what separation does and how yearning to be with loved ones gnaws at the soul.
THE JOURNEY IN ALL OF US
Briones notes how much worse this nation has become in the span of 13 years since the film was written. “At the time we were writing moments that were impactful, and they meant something,” he said.
“The idea was to feel for Roberto, to see him as your son, your brother, as someone who was trying to do the right thing. The visual language is set to be jarring and to give the viewer a sense of despair, to be on the edge and to hope for the best. We designed these with movement of camera, and with non-situational awareness from Roberto. He was a true fish out of water,” Briones said.
Gaytan echoed this sentiment. “It’s an even more depressing and relevant story today. The presence of ICE in our communities is on steroids now. In some ways, Journey had to wait all these years to find its moment.”
A WORK OF ART AND REALITY
In 2015 Rodriguez, Briones, and his brother Christian came to Laredo and asked City Council to embrace their project. The City allowed them to close streets and facilitated travel and permission for the film crew to shoot parts of the movie in El Metro, downtown Laredo, local warehouses, La Perla Ranch, Lake Casablanca, medical facilities, and the law offices of Arnulfo Gonzalez Jr., among other locations.
Laredoans were cast as extras, but more importantly the call went out to local artists. For Gaytan it was the beginning of her filmmaking journey.
She read a note in the local papers about a casting call for actors. She read for the lead role, knowing that her main interest was from behind the camera. “What I wanted was to learn everything I possibly could about how to make movies,” she recalled.
She approached producer Jasmine Darby and then reached out to Cris and Orlando on social media. A week later they called her for an interview.
“I got to sit in on pre-production, carefully mapping out the logistics behind each location, recruiting extras, calling dealerships to get picture cars, contacting warehouses, houses and schools as locations. I was Cris’s assistant, and my role involved supporting him with shot lists, storyboarding, and working closely with the lead actors,” Gaytan said.
GENESIS OF LAREDO FILM SOCIETY
Gaytan said she witnessed the Laredo community embrace the film. “It was magical to see people get so excited about the process and being so closely involved in making it a reality.”
“The power of film goes beyond the screen, and the people involved in the process carry a ripple effect of inspiration that moves in ways we can’t imagine,” she said.
The experience inspired Laredo artistic visionaries like Gabriela Treviño, who along with Gaytan co-founded the Laredo Film Society in 2018.
“I loved that her first film experience happened in Laredo. Maybe because it was my first experience, or because it was in my hometown. It was an incredibly independent and relatively low-budget production, but the high I felt during that set is one I have continued chasing in my career,” Gaytan continued.
“It was a big reason I was stubborn in asking Isaac Garza to bring The Son Who Can’t Play Trumpet to Laredo, and why I wanted to contribute to building the Laredo Film Society alongside my peers. To me, Journey opened a new portal and widened the scope of possibilities — that working class filmmakers outside the industrial centers of film can build their own skills, industry, and ecosystems to tell the stories that are close to home. We, too, are capable of great things,” she said.
WEATHERING THE BARRIERS
Director Rodriguez and cinematographer Briones recounted stories about making the movie that forged their desire to complete the project. The total budget was under $500,000.00, a miniscule amount compared to a typical industry film. The challenges of shooting in Monterrey and other locales in Mexico were further complicated by the confiscation of equipment by certain Mexican government officials. Most difficult of all was the COVID pandemic in 2020 once the film was completed and considered for distribution.
It seemed that at every turn a fortuitous confluence of circumstances unfolded to allow the project to roll on its journey. Briones sums up the collective advice given by the production team on their own journey. “Never give up. Bet on yourself, bet on your stories, and get your stories out there. Don’t sit on them, stay active. There wasn’t ever a moment where Journey just sat. I was busy trying to get a deal done somewhere. No one is going to give it to you. You have to parade it around until someone bites,” he said.
REFUSING TO CHANGE THE ENDING
Local patrons wondered aloud about the film’s ending. Briones and Rodriguez revealed that major studios wanted an alternate ending. The production team didn’t budge.
“I feel humbled and honored to be able to bring our stories to the big screen, where they deserve to be. No compromises from big studios, no compromises from investors. We put on the screen what is meant to be there,” said Briones.
FINAL THOUGHTS FROM THE DIRECTOR
The proudest moment for Chris Rodriguez was to have his children witness this film on the widescreen. It was a validation of years of dogged effort and a confirmation of the tenacity and friendship of his team. He’s proud of the Journey artistic tree that spawned many onto a career or the path to be storytellers, working class filmmakers telling their stories on their own terms.
