~ “BLESS ME, ULTIMA” BENITO MARTINEZ & LUKE GANALON UP&CLOSE with Edgardo Ochoa

BLESS ME, ULTIMA (Movie)

GABRIEL (Benito Martinez) & ANTONIO (Luke Ganalon)
UP&CLOSE with Edgardo Ochoa

The film BLESS ME, ULTIMA was written and directed by Carl Franklin (“Devil in a Blue Dress”), the executive producer is Christy Walton, producers are Mark Johnson, Sarah DiLeo and Jesse B’Franklin. The film is based on the novel by Rudolfo Anaya and stars Miriam Colon, Luke Ganalon, Dolores Heredia, Benito Martinez, Castulo Guerra and Joaquin Cosio.

BLESS ME, ULTIMA will debut in more than 200 theaters across the country, including in cities such as Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Dallas, Phoenix, Houston, Denver, Tucson and San Antonio.

The initial national release of BLESS ME, ULTIMA will be in the following cities:
California: Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento, Monterrey, Palm Springs, Fresno, Bakersfield
Arizona: Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma
Texas: Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Harlingen, Austin, Laredo, Odessa, Corpus Christi, Lubbock
Nevada: Las Vegas
Colorado: Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo
Illinois: Chicago
Florida: Miami, West Palm Beach, Orlando, Tampa

FROM NOVEL TO SCREENPLAY: BRINGING THE STORY TO THE SCREEN

Six-year-old Antonio Márez (Luke Ganalon) is reunited with elderly and wise Ultima (Miriam Colon) when she comes to stay with his family in their small house in Guadalupe, New Mexico. The family has taken in Ultima out of a respect for her healing powers, her knowledge of plant lore, and her long use of folk magic in service of the community. Though they have great respect for Ultima’s spirituality, the family is anxious about her arrival, especially Antonio’s mother María (Dolores Heredia), who is devoutly Catholic.

“Around me the moonlight glittered on the pebbles of the llano, and in the night sky a million stars sparkled. Across the river I could see the twinkling lights of the town. In a week I would be returning to school, and as always I would be running up the goat path and crossing the bridge to go to church. Sometime in the future I would have to build my own dream out of those things that were so much a part of my childhood.”
– Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima

The movie began its gestation when executive producer Christy Walton, heiress to the Walton fortune, set up Tenaja Productions Company solely to finance an adaptation of BLESS ME, ULTIMA for the big screen. Monkey Hill Films’ Sarah DiLeo partnered with her as producer with collaboration and support from producer Mark Johnson of Gran Via and Jesse B’Franklin of Monarch Pictures. Carl Franklin was tapped as a writer and director.

As of 2012, Bless Me, Ultima has become the best-selling Chicano novel of all time. The New York Times reports that Anaya is the most widely read author in Hispanic communities, and sales of his classic Bless Me, Ultima have surpassed 360,000 copies.

Bless Me, Ultima is Anaya’s best known work and was awarded the prestigious Premio Quinto Sol. In 2008, it was one of 12 classic American novels selected for The Big Read, a community reading program sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts; and in 2009 it was on the list of the United States Academic Decathlon.

The search to find the right actor to portray Antonio was a long process. The actor had to be able to express not only the innocence of a 7 year old but also the solemn appreciation of the seriousness of life. The filmmakers decided on Luke Ganalon.

“Oh, that was an odyssey. We saw so many young boys for this role. We had initially cast another boy, he was 13 years old, but looked nine. He got an offer to do another film and we lost him. And, I think we were really fortunate. We had to cast a broader net and found kids who were actually the age of Antonio. Luke Ganalon has natural qualities you don’t find in people who have had a lot of training. I am not a religious person, but I am a spiritual person and somehow I feel he is just another blessing that was bestowed upon us,” says Franklin.

THE CAST
LUKE GANALON (Antonio)
MIRIAM COLON VALLE (Ultima)
BENITO MARTINEZ (Gabriel)
DOLORES HEREDIA (María)
CASTULO GUERRA (Tenorio)
Joaquin Cosio (Narciso)

THE FILMMAKERS
CARL FRANKLIN (director)
RUDOLFO ANAYA (author)
MARK JOHNSON (Producer)
JESSE B’FRANKLIN (producer)
SARAH DILEO (producer)
PAULA HUIDOBRO (Director of Photography)
DAVID BOMBA (Production Designer)
CHRISTY WALTON (executive producer)

Arenas Entertainment