Los Angeles, USA
The story of the events that marked her life and community is the lesson that Puerto Rican screenwriter, Dominican parents Claudia Forestieri learned in her effort to enter Hollywood and speak for a Latino audience, which, despite multiple calls , still does not have enough representation on the screens.
“It always encourages him to write something personal, because it will be a story that no one else will have, and this will be a letter introducing who you are and what your point of view is,” explains Efe Forestieri, who arrived in Los Angeles for more than 10 years looking for an opportunity to bring Latino stories to TV or film and fill the gap that exists in the industry.
However, he says he had reservations about writing about his life and getting a Hollywood producer to bet to give him a chance at his project.
The election of President Donald Trump in 2016 and the constant attacks on immigrants and their community led her to find inspiration for the “Gordita Chronicles” in her own life experience.
The story of the immigrants “GORDIȚA”
Despite the fact that he had an American passport from birth, Forestieri claims that he knows what an immigrant in the USA is facing and much more the adaptation problems that foreign children face.
Born to Dominican parents, the Latin writer and her family moved to Miami, Florida, in the 1980s, when she was just seven years old.
“It was very difficult because I didn’t know the language, the culture. They told me I had to start changing and they started calling me ‘la gordita’. It was a very shocking combination,” he recalls.
Added to this is the fact that Forestieri and his family have reached a stage where immigrants have been identified as generators of violence in South Florida.
The screenwriter points out how, in 1981, Time magazine stated on its cover that South Florida was a “Paradise Lost,” a specialty with photographs showing when Miami was known for cocaine traffickers, the wave of crime, and an influx of immigrants from Haiti. Mariel boats from Cuba.
“There have been many negative stories in the press and this has greatly affected the image of Cubans and other nationalities in Miami. Despite the fact that criminals were a very small percentage, we have all suffered these allegations,” he said.
THE VALUE OF LATINS
Forty years later, things have changed in Miami, Forestieri admits, a transformation that is largely due to Hispanic and immigrant hands.
“This new face of Miami is largely due to our contributions,” he says proudly of the city he calls home and where “The Gordita Chronicles” takes place, a comedy set in the 1980s around an elderly Dominican girl. for 12 years.
This month, HBO Max approved the show’s pilot.
Forestieri brings the experience of being part of the writing team of “Selena: Series”, a Netflix production that premiered on December 1 the revival of the legend of Queen Tex-Mex.
The Puerto Rican was also part of the “Good Trouble” screenwriters.
Barriers difficult to engrave
To reach these teams, the 46-year-old Puerto Rican spent more than 10 years of her career knocking on dozens of doors and attending training sessions on NBC, HBO and Disney.
“It’s a very difficult road. You have to work on other things to pay your rent and survive. You have to give up a lot of things to get an opportunity, which may never materialize, and for Latinos the effort is double or triple, “he said.
The absence of Latino narratives in film and television is such a big issue that the Hispanic Caucus Congress conducted a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee a few weeks ago to address the disparity.
Caucus and the House Oversight and Reform Committee requested in October that the US Government Accountability Office report on the issue. The ultimate goal of the application is to “enforce federal equal opportunity requirements” in the film, television and publishing industries.
“It is time for the federal government to examine this issue of racism in the system and the exclusion of Latinos in industries such as publishing and Hollywood,” Congressman Joaquin Castro, the president of the Caucus, said in a statement.
And it is that Latinos, who represent 18% of the population of the United States, represent only 4% of American cinema. A much lower figure than African Americans, who account for 17% of all images in Hollywood movies.
“There are many obstacles, such as convincing producers that our stories are aimed at all audiences, not just Latinos,” Forestieri warns of one of Hollywood’s myths about Hispanic issues.
For now, Puerto Rico is focusing on making its creation and approving a first season.
He is also working on expanding the concept of his short film “Unimundo 45”, which tells the story of the adventures that take place inside a Spanish-language news story in the USA.
“This is another world full of characters of different nationalities and experiences, but which brings together the effort and spirit of immigrants from the United States,” he concludes.