Looks like a movie called “VIEQUES” is in the works, as the following casting announcement states:
Tara Thomas Agency and Marlo Films is at it again! Tara Thomas has teamed up with Angelo Lopez, Michael Diesel and Tuffy Questrell to make this the movie of 2014. This time with Vieques whose casting is currently on the move. Vieques is a ground breaking and well scripted movie with extraordinarily fitting characters and professionally selected scenes that profoundly raises the movie’s standing and complements its efficacy. The 2014 casting process involves consummate movie and casting entities with unequivocal track records in the movie business.
Very little details about the movie are out, but a Twitter account called @ViequesMovie has been tweeting details. According that profile, the movie’s location would be on the island of Vieques, part of Puerto Rico. And it looks like this new film would not be the first movie shot in Vieques. That honor goes to “Dead Season,” a zombie movie bassed in Vieques. Given the island’s contentious history with the United States over controversial bombings by the Navy, we decided to ask some of our friends who know a little more about this movie. This is what Marina Ortiz of virtualboricua.org and a member of New York Solidarity with Vieques (NYSV) told us:
Last May, I traveled Vieques to attend the 10th Anniversary commemoration of the end of U.S. bombing practices on the island. One day, I came across a bootleg DVD for an indy horror film called “Dead Season” that had been filmed en La Isla Nena. The guy selling the movie assured me that Viequenses were not portrayed as evil zombies responsible for spreading the “plague.”
True to his word, ‘local” zombies were not as prominent as I feared they would be (of course, they were still among the lumbering dead). Surprisingly, the film blamed the zombie epidemic and the poisoned food and water supply on military bombing practices. Though the island wasn’t actually named in “Dead Season,” the setting was clearly Vieques, with scenes filmed in the abandoned military bunkers. Trashy? Yes. Unbelievably racist? Not so much.
Now, another low-budget movie set in Vieques is in the works. This one, however, takes the opposite approach with an incredibly racist storyline involving the rape and murder of tourists by “locals” and the inconceivable “epic” rescue of surviving visitors by U.S. Navy Seals.
What an insult to the generations of Viequenses who have endured 70+ years of military brutality. Boricua history is once again marred by the denial of the true heroes on La Isla Nena. We cannot allow such an offense against the many brave souls who fought valiantly against U.S. tyranny for all those years and who continue to fight against foreign occupation.
The Vieques tourism bureau must not allow these low-rent filmmakers to set foot in La Isla Nena to shoot this garbage.
Other NYSV members shared their thoughts as well.
Labor and community activist David Galarza said: “After all the sacrifice, blood shed and lives lost during (and years after) the valiant, noble and victorious fight against the world’s most powerful military machine, there’s no way in hell that Boricuas in the diaspora or Boricuas in Vieques, Puerto Rico are going to allow that struggle and that history to be trivialized, belittled and disrespected. We didn’t allow Paul Newman to get away with it in ‘Fort Apache,’ we forced Seinfeld to eliminate an inflammatory episode, we forced the cancellation of an insulting reality show on MTV and we’ll certainly do whatever it takes to make sure this poor excuse for a film is never produced.”
“After 60 years of bombing and the use of biochemical agents on the island of Vieques by the United States Navy, any film that crudely dismisses the legacy of cancer, contamination and expropriation of land left by the Navy disrespects the struggle of a people who have consistently fought for the basic rights to health, life and dignity,” said Natasha Lycia Ora Bannan of the National Lawyers Guild International Committee.
Filmmaker Andrew J. Padilla added: “Considering the islands history of occupation at the hands of the US military. A production on Viequense land about tourists being saved from Viequenses by an invasion of American forces is beyond insensitive. I would hope there are no public funds or tax incentives aiding this production. The idea of the people of Vieques funding this production is almost as vile as the core message of the film itself.”
“The premise of this film treats the more than 60 years of US Navy occupation and bombing of Vieques within the colonial context as no more than a joke and is by no means worthy of a film,” said CUNY doctoral candidate Sarah Molinari. “The problematic and racist narrative disregards Viequenses and ironically exalts the US Navy for coming to the rescue in the very land it has devastated.”
O M G Its a MOVIE not a TRUE STORY.STOP THE MADNESS. Please read the script
I read this script on the down low. It’s extremely well-written, and it paints the U.S. Navy as serious transgressors. The father of the lead character doesn’t want his son joining the NAVY because of the atrocities the NAVY committed. They are a proud Latino family in this regard. If anything, it is the insensitive Americans who get their comeuppance, and the lead character survives by befriending the Native people and being sensitive to their plight. I was wary at first, I don’t trust ANYONE with my beautiful island, but their heart seems to be in the right place. I think it will be a great educational tool to educate Americans on the beauty of our people and our land.
And reading these comments above, none of the distinguished individuals have done their due diligence by reading the script. The summary that the Vieques people gave about the NAVY saving the day is taken out of context. The NAVY coming to the rescue only happens after the father throws the NAVY solider out of his home. I have a copy of the screenplay if anyone wants to check it out.
POPPY
You see those links I sent you about Vieques?
MARCO
I’m on it.
POPPY
They’ll make you think twice about joining the Navy. Educate yourself.
MARCO
That’s sort of the idea.
POPPY
Oh, you’re a wise guy now? You’re not gonna learn squat in the Navy.
MARCO
It’s not just the Navy, it’s Annapolis. It’s the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. And you don’t join, you apply. Annapolis is tougher to get into than Harvard.
POPPY
And it’s part of the Navy, is it not?
(beat)
Do you know what the Navy stands for?
MARCO
Honesty. Integrity. The Navy stands for honesty and integrity.
POPPY
The Navy stands for Never Again Volunteer Yourself. Make a note.
———————————————
RECRUITER
Mr. Maldonado — I’m Lt. Young.
POPPY
How are you?
RECRUITER
Great… I stopped by to talk to Marco earlier. I was hoping that you and I could sit down as well.
POPPY
With all due respect, Lieutenant,
I know what the Navy has done down in Vieques, and I know what you do to the rest of the world.
Poppy chops meat with a cleaver. Recruiter approaches the counter, splays his fingers on the standard white Formica.
RECRUITER
With all due respect, the Navy left Vieques in 2003.
POPPY
Did they take all the unexploded ordnance with them? What about the napalm and depleted uranium — Did that leave Vieques in 2003 as well?
——————————————————-
It goes on from there. It’s just my opinion, but it seems like a really well-written and thoughtful script. And the people behind the scenes all seem like stand-up people if there comments above are any indication. They’re coming here and addressing our concerns, which a lot of people would ignore. If it brings attention to our plight, I’m down. The proof is in the pudding, so we’ll see.
“…This one, however, takes the opposite approach with an incredibly racist storyline involving the rape and murder of tourists by ‘locals'”
First of all, this article would be a lot more effective if it wasn’t so full of missing words, spelling mistakes and falsehoods. Secondly, the rape is by an visiting American high school student. And his classmates are all against him. He bullies the lead character, a Puerto Rican-American who is sensitive to the plight of the local population. And the rapist gets his.
platanoforever Hi, there. As the writer of the script, I appreciate the spirited defense you and “prieto” are mounting, but 1) Less is more, and 2) I don’t know how you got your mitts on the script — well over a year ago — but if you could do me a huge favor, please don’t post my dialogue online. It’s been done to me in the past, and any writer can tell you that when people post dialogue/scenes out of context, it’s a little mortifying. Screenplays are generally flat in the read, but when separated from the rest of the pages, any given scene reads as if written by a child.
Thanks, though.
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