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Actor-Director Diego Luna poses a thoughtful question on how a man who graced the cover of Time Magazine as “Man of the Year” could be so largely forgotten by today’s generation. “We should make sure we tell our kids about the guy who has his name on a school or a street or a mural in East LA,” said Luna in a roundtable interview. “Let’s make sure the new generations don’t forget what happened for them to be where they are.”

The man we are all talking about today is the subject of Luna’s biopic, Cesar Chavez. A late civil rights and labor movement activist in the ‘60s, the film chronicles Chavez’s daunting journey of bringing labor equality to farm workers. Cesar Chavez is a powerful drama that touches on a major turning point in history, centering on non-violent movements and labor issues. It stars Michael Pena, America Ferrara, John Malkovich, and Rosario Dawson, with Luna’s direction bringing the story to life..

Luna touched on why he chose to bring Cesar Chavez’s journey to the screen, shooting in Mexico, cinematography, and how he fit a 10-year movement into 90 minutes of film.

Why did you decide on this project as a director?

I was looking for a project that would connect an audience [in America] to the community [in Mexico]. We wanted to make a bridge between Latin America and the Latino community in the States. There are so many things we have in common and stories we should be sharing, but we have allowed this border to divide us. It’s ridiculous. As Cesar Chavez says, “Our strength is in our numbers,” but we have to accept that there’s more things that connect us… by telling the story of Cesar Chavez and celebrating the legacy of this man.

What does the actor Diego Luna think of the director Diego Luna and vice versa?

As a director I think that there’s a lot for me to learn. I can tell you that my passion is [in directing] today. My hunger, my need for being able to tell the stories I care about, to raise the questions I want to raise. I’m thinking as a director now more than ever. As an actor, I would never hire myself (laughs).

As a filmmaker, what is it like knowing that you are introducing a large portion of your audience to who Cesar Chavez is; directing the first biopic about him?

On one hand, it’s depressing. It’s depressing to be the first film about Cesar Chavez. It’s depressing to celebrate that. We cannot allow ourselves to forget where we come from. Why we are able to be here talking about the story of a Latino leader in this country. The struggle and the work and the fight of [everyone] in the movement needs to be recognized and celebrated. And that’s us.

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