Film shot in Merced set to premiere at L.A. Film Festival

A Merced filmmaker’s latest feature, which was shot entirely in Merced County, is set to premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival early next month.

Director Rodrigo Reyes, 32, filmed “Lupe Under the Sun” in orchards, streets and other locations in the county. The 80-minute feature has been selected in the running for the World Fiction Competition and also will be considered for best cinematography and other awards.

“It’s really rewarding to know that a story from outside the common circle of movies is up there,” Reyes told the Sun-Star. “And, it’s competing against a lot of different movies from all over the world. Hopefully it’ll be the beginning of a long journey.”

Reyes said California filmmakers make countless movies that take place almost exclusively in the Bay Area or Southern California. “The Valley almost gets ignored,” he said. “There’s a huge amount of people living out here, and their stories go untold.”

In his new film, aging farmworker Lupe has been in Merced and away from his family for many years. He’s worked picking peaches or wherever he can, sending the money back to his wife and children back home in Michoacan.

Then, for the first time, he stops to wonder: “What’s the point?”

“One day he realizes, ‘I’m old now, and I haven’t really done much with my life except for work,’ ” Reyes said. “So he goes through a crisis and he realizes that he doesn’t want to stay here. If he’s going to die, he wants to die in Mexico.”

That brings up questions about whether his family would even want him to come back. It’s a feeling many immigrants get, he said – homesickness.

The film straddles the line between documentary and fiction, using real actors to play characters similar to themselves. “It’s kind of like this neo-realist story where real people are acting out something that could actually happen,” he said. “It’s just working with them, working with the story and shooting it in real places.”

He said Merced-area law enforcement, shops, orchards and others were supportive and welcomed filming.

The story is something of an examination on immigration without ever addressing the politics. For example, the film never lets viewers in on Lupe’s residency status. “That’s something that you have to get at on your own,” Reyes said.

Adding to the Merced flavor of the film are real-life Merced couple Daniel and Ana Maria Muratalla, who play the two lead roles.

Reyes studied international studies at UC San Diego, but learned his filmmaking skills as a hobby.

His day job is as a Spanish interpreter for Merced County Superior Court.

He said having a day job has made it possible to pursue interesting films that don’t necessarily have to be commercial darlings.

The 2001 Merced High graduate gained some attention for “Purgatorio,” which played in about 40 film festivals around the world. That film asked viewers to imagine the world before it was carved up into arbitrary borders that make up the world’s countries while spotlighting the line that separates Mexico and the United States.

The earlier film played for free as part of a UC Merced series and at the Merced Multicultural Arts Center. Reyes said he plans in coming months to do something similar with “Lupe,” when he’ll invite people to see the film and discuss it.

The premiere on June 5 has sold out.

“Even if you’ve never been undocumented,” he said, “you know what it’s like to be lonely.”

This story was originally published May 27, 2016 at 12:17 PM with the headline "Film shot in Merced set to premiere at L.A. Film Festival."