Diego Luna’s “Cesar Chavez” to premiere at Berlin Film Fest

Mexican actor and director Diego Luna’s biopic on Latino icon Cesar Chavez (19271993) will have its world premiere in February at the Berlin International Film Festival, the movie’s production company said.

“Cesar Chavez: An American Hero” will be entered into the festival’s official program in the Berlinale Special section, which presents recent works by contemporary directors, as well as cinematic portraits of renowned personalities, Canana Films, which Luna coowns with fellow Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal, said in a statement.

The cast of the biopic is headed by Michael Peña, who plays the role of the late migrant farm workers’ leader and civil rights activist.

Golden Globe winning actress America Ferrera plays the part of Chavez’s wife, while Rosario Dawson portrays Dolores Huerta, Chavez’s partner in founding the National Farmworkers Association (later the United Farm Workers).

“Cesar Chavez represents the largest nonviolent protest movement in U.S. history; his goal was to achieve basic human rights for the more than 50,000 farm workers in California,” Canana said.

“We think the film will send the message that change is in our hands. Chavez did something that everyone thought was impossible with courage that inspired an entire nation.”

“Cesar Chavez,” which will hit U.S. theaters on March 28 and arrive in Mexico on May 2, was filmed in the United States and the northern Mexican state of Sonora.

It marks Luna’s second foray into directing, after his hit 2010 comedy/drama “Abel.”