Film Highlights struggles of being gay and Latino

A film at the Cinema Diverse Film Festival brings up a sensitive issue for the Coachella Valley: being gay and being Latino. The film, produced in the Coachella Valley, has won an international award, and now the filmmakers hope its message will make a difference in the community.

The film, “Waterberry Tears,” follows a Mexican family that lives and works in the Coachella Valley.

Adrian Aldaz, director of “Waterberry Tears,” says, “The main drama is they have one son, which is gay, and the dad is completely against it. But the thing is, the neighborhood that they live in, everybody is against homosexuality.”

Aldaz says the script is based on real-life experiences.

“We wanted to bring it up to people and say “Hey, listen, it’s different. We have to change. We have to accept and not make it a big deal,'” says Aldaz.

Raul Rodriguez, an actor in the film, says, “In the Latino communities, behind the doors of Mexican homes, it’s not something that is really talked about.”

The film’s name, “Waterberry Tears,” comes from a term used in farming. A waterberry is a grape that is bad and is cast aside, the same way filmmakers say members of the gay Latino community are cast aside.

Actor Juan Loiza says, “Too many people are closed minded.”

Rodriguez says, “I was really scared, I could say, just because we did not know the reaction that the community would have dealing with such a delicate topic.”

Aldaz says, “Even though we believe that is no longer happening in nowadays it still does in smaller towns.”

Joceln Vargas, who works with area youth, agrees.

“From my experience, I feel that a lot of the students that do come out to their parents, sometimes they are not as supportive, and they do see it as something negative and they see it, “says Vargas, director of community programs at Raices Cultura.

The filmmakers know the movie won’t change the culture overnight but, they hope at least, it will spark a conversation.

Aldaz says, “We hope that it gets out there, so that people can get a chance to see it and hopefully it will bring a change to families “

Vargas says, “We often think that parents, they are set in their ways so they are not going to listen or they are not going to change the way they think, but I think that if we provide them with resources and information that they would be willing to listen and hopefully in the future they might change they way they think.”

Loiza says, “Love is love.”

The movie will show at the Cinema Diverse Festival Saturday at 4:30pm.

For more information about the film click here