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Legendary actor Rita Moreno is finally recognized as a Latina pioneer.
After a career spanning seven decades and dozens of credits across film, theater and television, the Puerto Rican actor – who is one of 16 artists to win Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony – is the subject of the highly anticipated documentary, “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go,” which will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday.
Directed by award-winning filmmaker Mariem Pérez Riera, the 90-minute documentary chronicles Moreno’s extraordinary life and career, detailing the highs of her rise to stardom in Hollywood and the lows of pernicious sexual abuse and relentless racism she has endured along the way. . After bursting onto the scene in 1961 with his Oscar-winning performance in “West Side Story,” Moreno’s struggles as a Latina performer as well as his unwavering activism for gender and race equality seem more relevant than ever. .
“The first time I interviewed Rita, I had prepared a series of questions about the greatest moments of her career. As soon as she started to speak, I immediately saw myself reflected in her responses, ”Pérez Riera wrote in her director’s note. “I recounted everything she said, her stories about discrimination, the insecurities she felt because of the way others viewed her, the complicated romantic relationships and the constant need to work three times harder to prove to others that she is worth it.
Given that she shares a shared cultural heritage and ‘artistic sensibility’ with the 89-year-old actress, Pérez Riera felt she could relate to Moreno in ways others couldn’t. Alongside fellow Puerto Rican and longtime collaborator Ilia J. Vélez-Dávila, Pérez Riera worked closely with a handful of creators – including ‘One Day at a Time’ executive producers Norman Lear and Brent Miller – to create an intimate portrait of a woman who endured decades of hardship breaking down barriers for the Latino artists who would follow her.
“We always knew we wanted this documentary to be not just a demonstration of her career and how great she is,” Pérez Riera told NBC News. “When I make or watch a documentary, I want to be able to know this person more than what I already know, so it was very important for me to go further and understand them as a human being.
To give the documentary an air of authenticity, the filmmakers followed Moreno for a few months at the end of 2018, offering a glimpse into his daily life – preparing his breakfast, doing his hair and makeup, driving himself to long work. hours as an actor and producer. In addition to Moreno’s heartfelt thoughts, the film features interviews with over a dozen of his friends and former colleagues, including “West Side Story” actor George Chakiris, as well as Morgan Freeman, Whoopi Goldberg, Gloria Estefan , Eva Longoria, Justina Machado and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
“She’s just a brilliant woman,” Vélez-Dávila told NBC News. “She is self-taught. She is also smart on the streets so she is very wise and that really surprised and impressed me. “
“She’s got this BS radar,” Pérez Riera said, “and she likes talking to anyone because I think that’s how she understands and gets more information about what’s going on in the world. and not just in his bubble. “
In the documentary, Pérez Riera wove stop-motion animations using paper dolls – popular during Moreno’s childhood – to explore “Rita’s inner child” and “capture the duality of Rita and Rosita. Which was his nickname growing up. Moreno was born in Puerto Rico and moved to New York City as a young child.
“When I was writing the proposal, that [idea] came to mind because in her book she talks a lot about her mother who has been dressing and making her since she was a seamstress, ”said Pérez Riera. “I always imagined that she had to put on these dresses to become the person her mother or the audience wanted her to be.
During the first decades of her career, Moreno was classified as any ethnic minority that major Hollywood studios needed in their feature films – from Egyptians to Native Americans to overexualized Hispanic women – often with a much darker complexion than the his. Even after becoming the first Hispanic woman to win an Oscar, Moreno struggled to find roles that matched her proven talent.
Moreno shows no sign of slowing down. After four successful seasons on the underrated sitcom “One Day at a Time,” she will produce and star in Steven Spielberg’s remake of “West Side Story,” playing a reimagined version of the store owner, Doc. from the corner where Tony worked.
While Moreno may not fully understand the profound impact she has had on generations of artists, Pérez Riera and Vélez-Dávila hope viewers can learn from her resilience.
“I would love for people to be inspired by her story – not necessarily her accolades, but her continued struggle to become the person she is today,” said Pérez Riera. “Just her self-awareness, she wants to become a better human being, to go to therapy to become free.”
Pérez Riera was referring to an episode Moreno wrote about in his 2013 memoir, his toxic relationship with Marlon Brando, which led to a suicide attempt a year before he won his Oscar.
“Mariem was very clear from the start in wanting to tell a story that would take Rita’s life as a leitmotif to tell these other parts of her life and not tell a typical biopic of her life,” Vélez-Dávila said. “I think it’s a documentary for people to get inspired and see that anything is really possible.”
“Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go” will premiere Friday, Jan. 29 at 3 p.m. ET at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. A second screening will be available from Sunday at 10 a.m. ET for 24 hours. hours.
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