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Speaker 1: This is Latino USA, the radio journal of News and

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Speaker 1: Courture Latino US. Latin Latino USA. I'm Maria Inojosa. We

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Speaker 1: bring you stories that are underreported but that mattered to you,

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Speaker 1: overlooked by the wrest of the media. And while the

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Speaker 1: country is struggling to deal with these, we listen to

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Speaker 1: the stories of Black and Latino Studio United Latino Front,

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Speaker 1: a cultural renaissance organizing at the forefront of the movement.

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Speaker 1: I'm Maria Ino Jossa.

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Speaker 2: Every time they need a gang member, called Latino a narco,

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Speaker 2: color Latino, an abuser, a murder an abuser, called Latino.

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Speaker 1: A poor, downtrodden immigrant, refugee color.

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Speaker 2: Latino, and we were more than that, and I was

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Speaker 2: always fighting for that. I promise myself if I am

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Speaker 2: able one day to produce my own movies in the US,

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Speaker 2: I'm going to try to change that narrative.

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Speaker 1: Futuro Media and PRX, It's Latino USA. I'm Maria no Josa. Today,

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Speaker 1: Mexican actor and comedian Ehango Derves gets serious. Ellego Derves

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Speaker 1: is one of the most famous Mexican artists and comedians

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Speaker 1: of our generation. And though we do not like to

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Speaker 1: do comparisons. In case there's someone who knows nothing about

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Speaker 1: Ilheingo der Revez, he would be the equivalent of Steve Martin,

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Speaker 1: for example, unable to walk down the streets of Mexico

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Speaker 1: City without getting recognized. He is an actor, a writer,

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Speaker 1: a director, and a producer. He got his start at

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Speaker 1: the forefront of many comedy series that have made families

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Speaker 1: laugh for decades on television. Some of them include Alderecho, Ijlderves,

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Speaker 1: Dereves and Guando and La Familia Pluce. You can still

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Speaker 1: catch some of Oheno's shows on reruns today. Ilhenho isn't

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Speaker 1: only famous in Mexico, though, he's a well known name

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Speaker 1: across Latin America and in many Spanish speaking households. Right

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Speaker 1: here in the US. You have been talking reorder.

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Speaker 3: I'm a big fan and I like its range and

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Speaker 3: the grow that he has done since he first started.

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Speaker 4: He's making Mexico proud.

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Speaker 1: Either Mexico Latin America. That's right. You might recognize Derbase

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Speaker 1: as the voice of Donkey in the Spanish language version

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Speaker 1: of the Shrek movies. He wrote his own jokes for

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Speaker 1: the role, and some say his version is even better

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Speaker 1: than the original English version.

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Speaker 4: Oh Wowesta.

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Speaker 1: In recent Yearshino has reinvented himself in the US, a

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Speaker 1: process that was not easy. While he was a mega

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Speaker 1: star in Mexico, he was just some guy name named

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Speaker 1: Ilho in Hollywood and in the United States. So he

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Speaker 1: sees the opportunity to completely transform his career by becoming

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Speaker 1: a dramatic actor. A big opportunity came knocking with the

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Speaker 1: movie Coda. He played the supporting role of a music teacher.

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Speaker 5: Do you have something to say? I think so good,

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Speaker 5: then I'll see you in class Bob.

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Speaker 1: Coda went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture

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Speaker 1: in twenty twenty two. Now, Elhango Dedabase has returned to

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Speaker 1: Mexico to star in Radcal, his first leading dramatic role.

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Speaker 1: In the movie. Again, he plays the role of a teacher.

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Speaker 1: His name is Serchio and one of his students is

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Speaker 1: Baloma Nojola, a brilliant student with a lot of potential.

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Speaker 1: This time the film is based on a true story.

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Speaker 1: Here now is my conversation with Ilhango de Bas. We

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Speaker 1: talk about his work, his drive, and how he keeps

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Speaker 1: his feet on the ground. I'm really happy that you're here, Iheno.

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Speaker 4: It's so very happy to finally meet in person.

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Speaker 1: So Eheno, we interviewed you in twenty thirteen, in twenty seventeen,

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Speaker 1: and now you're back again, So that doesn't happen a

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Speaker 1: lot on Latino USA. I was thinking about this. You're

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Speaker 1: an artist that I respect.

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Speaker 2: I got to says Maria Calinda. Thank you very much

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Speaker 2: for your kind words.

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Speaker 4: Thank you.

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Speaker 1: One of the things that we're going to talk about

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Speaker 1: in this interview is the notion of reinvention.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, I wanted to talk to you a little bit

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Speaker 1: going back to your twenty seventeen interview where you talked

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Speaker 1: about leaving Dololokitini is behind in Mexico, all of the fame.

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Speaker 1: You cannot walk down a street in Mexico without being mobbed.

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Speaker 1: Now that you have a little bit of distance, right

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Speaker 1: the time that you left Mexico to move to Hollywood,

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Speaker 1: the successes that you've had, But can you go back

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Speaker 1: to those first day where you were like me boy,

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Speaker 1: and I'm gonna move to la and start all over again,

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Speaker 1: Like do you remember those emotions?

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Speaker 4: Absolutely?

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Speaker 2: It was hard to process because back then, every time

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Speaker 2: I was traveling to the US for a meeting with

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Speaker 2: an executive producer, for example, in Hollywood, and you know,

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Speaker 2: at the airport they were like, mister, the rest here

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Speaker 2: there and a whole antourage around me, paparazzis blah blah blah.

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Speaker 2: And then as soon as I landed in la it

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Speaker 2: was just me carrying my luggage asking for a taxi,

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Speaker 2: you know, then arriving to the producer's offices and they

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Speaker 2: don't even know how to write my name or pronounce it.

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Speaker 2: They were like, what can you write it down and

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Speaker 2: then sit down, wait, and they kept me waiting there

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Speaker 2: for half an hour. But that helped me a lot

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Speaker 2: to understand that a tira, which your feet on the ground,

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Speaker 2: my fee in the ground. Because I was aware that

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Speaker 2: I was not more than anyone else that in one country,

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Speaker 2: I was trendy, super famous, famous, and then the other one,

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Speaker 2: it's just a human being, that's it. So it was

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Speaker 2: really hard for me to process that. But at the

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Speaker 2: same time it was very I enjoyed it a lot.

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Speaker 2: It was like living these two worlds sometimes in the

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Speaker 2: same day. So it was a very curious experience.

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Speaker 1: One of the things that has happened in your time

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Speaker 1: here in the United States, because it's been what a

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Speaker 1: decade now A decade now, Okay, So when you move

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Speaker 1: to the United States, you're breaking out of the comedic

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Speaker 1: box and you're doing work that is increasingly more serious. Right,

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Speaker 1: So what you do is that when you move to

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Speaker 1: the United States, you form your own production company. It's

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Speaker 1: called Trespassos three pas three pass no medias, three pussy.

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Speaker 1: I'm really getting schooled by you, man, I wear pus.

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Speaker 1: Oh my god, you guys. So it's t R three pas.

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Speaker 2: Three in English and then pass true And because it's

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Speaker 2: bilingual company, we decided to do that and three puss.

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Speaker 4: It's guts because.

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Speaker 2: Every important decision that you're make in your life is

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Speaker 2: with your guts, with your three passes.

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Speaker 1: Oh my god, is that cool? So part of your

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Speaker 1: ethos right of actually trusting your gut, is that you

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Speaker 1: say yes to playing the role of Bernardo Bielovos in Coda,

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Speaker 1: about a community that is set aside the deaf community.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Do you know what Bowis said about up Dylan a

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Speaker 2: voice like sand and glue.

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Speaker 5: There are plenty of pretty voices with nothing to say.

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Speaker 5: Do you have something to say?

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Speaker 4: Then?

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Speaker 1: In twenty twenty two, Coda wins the Oscar for Best

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Speaker 1: picture an extraordinary moment, so oh yeaheno when you're just like,

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Speaker 1: oh my god, I'm on the stage at the Oscars,

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Speaker 1: what was that moment? Like?

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Speaker 2: It was the most unbliable thing ever in my entire life.

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Speaker 2: I mean, first of all, he didn't expect it at all.

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Speaker 4: And I swear, and let me tell you why. It's easy.

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Speaker 2: We were a small independent movie, but you know, not

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Speaker 2: big commercial Hollywood names, and the other movies were full

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Speaker 2: of them, like Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence. The other

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Speaker 2: one was like Meryl Strip, another one that al Pacino,

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Speaker 2: another one Adam Driver, Lady Gaga. I mean, we were

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Speaker 2: against the biggest Hollywood actors ever.

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Speaker 4: So I was.

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Speaker 2: Completely sure, completely sure, we're not gonna be able to

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Speaker 2: win anything.

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Speaker 1: I mean, there was a part of you that was like,

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Speaker 1: oh my god, wouldn't it be cool if that happened,

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Speaker 1: But it's never gonna happen.

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Speaker 2: But I was, I swear, I'm not kidding. I was

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Speaker 2: one hundred percent sure that was not gonna happen. So

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Speaker 2: I was actually enjoying. You know, when you were in

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Speaker 2: a show and you're always nervous, ah, what if this,

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Speaker 2: what if that?

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Speaker 4: I was completely relaxed.

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Speaker 1: It's never gonna happen.

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Speaker 4: It's never gonna happen.

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Speaker 2: So and all of a sudden when they said and

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Speaker 2: the winner is coda, I don't even remember what happened there.

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Speaker 4: It's like blurred in my mind.

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Speaker 2: I just remember that I'm on stage already with them,

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Speaker 2: and remembering that. Since I was eight years old, every

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Speaker 2: single year, I was always watching the Oscars with my mom,

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Speaker 2: and I was always dreaming. I was always telling my mom,

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Speaker 2: I want to do that. I want to be a storyteller.

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Speaker 1: Aiki Lindo. So you didn't say I want to be famous.

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Speaker 4: No, no, no no.

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Speaker 2: In Espanol, mama yokiro de di came yokio, contaristorias, kumoras,

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Speaker 2: pelliculas in Hollywood, in.

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Speaker 1: Because so many people are just like I want to

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Speaker 1: be on the stage because I want to be famous.

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Speaker 2: No, no, no, it was it was not about fame.

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Speaker 2: It was about movies. I loved going to the movie

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Speaker 2: theaters and my mom and I were every single week

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Speaker 2: and we went to see at least two or even

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Speaker 2: for a day.

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Speaker 4: To Maria, like.

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Speaker 1: What movie theater would you go to?

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Speaker 2: In Mexico City, there were multi cinemas and they were like,

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Speaker 2: the schedule was already like four, six, eight ten, so something.

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Speaker 2: My mama was like, let's do four pm, this one, six,

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Speaker 2: this other one, eight and ten. So what I felt

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Speaker 2: every time I was in the movie theater, I was

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Speaker 2: moved by every story that I watched, and that made

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Speaker 2: me fell in love with cinema. And that's when I

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Speaker 2: told my mom, especially when I was watching the Oscars

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Speaker 2: and I was like, Mom, I want to be one

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Speaker 2: of these guys. I want to be one day an

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Speaker 2: actor or a director. And my mom was really really kind.

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Speaker 2: She never said nah, but she was like I know,

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Speaker 2: my love, but it's it's really hard.

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Speaker 4: It's a lot of competition there. It's complicated.

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Speaker 2: If you want, you need to be well prepared and

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Speaker 2: you have to go to the US and take.

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Speaker 1: A She was like giving you a serious answer. If

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Speaker 1: you want to do it, you're going to have to

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Speaker 1: do exactly.

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Speaker 2: And many many years later, I was on that stage.

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Speaker 2: So when I was standing up on the stage and

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Speaker 2: the Oscar goes to okay, coda, there was a moment

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Speaker 2: that I looked copular.

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Speaker 4: I remember because I was connecting with my mom.

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Speaker 2: I was like, mom, here it was like, mamay and

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Speaker 2: here I am many many years later, and I was

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Speaker 2: like trying to go all the way back to that

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Speaker 2: small apartment in Mexico City.

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Speaker 4: It was very, very touching.

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Speaker 1: What a beautiful story. And it's interesting that you bring

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Speaker 1: up your mom, who obviously had a big influence on you.

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Speaker 1: In relation to Coda, there were many things I loved

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Speaker 1: about the film. Focusing on the deaf community and then

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Speaker 1: just making them part of the mainstream is just such

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Speaker 1: a something really beautiful to watch. But what I loved

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Speaker 1: about Coda was that you were not You were not

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Speaker 1: El Mexicano, you know, the funny guy, the purposely thick accent.

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Speaker 1: You were an actor playing the role of the teacher. Right.

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Speaker 1: That's how I remember you, is playing the role of

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Speaker 1: the teacher, having this beautiful, this beautiful back narrative. And

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Speaker 1: I'm wondering about that decision to say yes to a

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Speaker 1: role where you were like not going to be able

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Speaker 1: to fall back on the comedic tradition. This was serious

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Speaker 1: acting for you.

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Speaker 4: It was very challenging and I knew it was a risk.

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Speaker 2: But at the same time, those kind of roles were

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Speaker 2: never offered to me when I was in Mexico.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, in Mexico.

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Speaker 2: There was a time where I wanted to be also

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Speaker 2: a dramatic actor or start doing movies and things with

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Speaker 2: more depth, things that would be more serious, and they

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Speaker 2: never gave me a chance to do something like that.

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Speaker 2: They were like always telling me, as you know, people

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Speaker 2: are going to laugh they see you, you're going to

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Speaker 2: ruin the movie. They were really really really straightforward when

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Speaker 2: they were telling me why and they were like, no,

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Speaker 2: you know, this is a very dramatic movie and if

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Speaker 2: they see you on screen, they will immediately think that

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Speaker 2: you were a comedian, or they're gonna remember your characters.

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Speaker 4: Whatever. So they never gave me a chance.

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Speaker 2: And in the US, when they were offering me a coda,

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Speaker 2: for example, I knew that the director she was not

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Speaker 2: aware of my background or my characters or my TV shows.

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Speaker 4: It was so refreshing because you.

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Speaker 1: Went into the audition just like.

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Speaker 2: As an actor, and because one of the producers told

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Speaker 2: the director, this guy is really popular among Latinos, it

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Speaker 2: would be great, it would be good to have a

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Speaker 2: Latino in this story. What I loved about the character

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Speaker 2: was that because you know, every time they need a

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Speaker 2: gang member called Latino and narco color Latino.

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Speaker 4: An abuser, a murder, an abuser called Latina.

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Speaker 1: Who were downtrodden immigrant refugee.

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Speaker 2: Called Latino, and we were more than that. And I

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Speaker 2: was always fighting for that. And I promise myself, if

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Speaker 2: I am able one day to produce my own movies

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Speaker 2: in the US, I'm going to try to change that

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Speaker 2: narrative and portray Latinos in a different way. So when

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Speaker 2: they offered me this role, I knew it was perfect

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Speaker 2: for me because it was just a music teacher that

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Speaker 2: happens to be Latino. And that's the way it should be.

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Speaker 2: That's real diversity.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, because that's life in the United States exactly. I mean,

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Speaker 1: we're Latinos are everywhere North Dakota, Alaska, Maine, Florida, Arkansas, everywhere.

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Speaker 4: Absolutely.

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Speaker 2: So immediately said yes to Koda, and so we made

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Speaker 2: we adapted some tough to say that he was from Mexico,

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Speaker 2: that he studied in mexicoh blah blah, and then he

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Speaker 2: moved to the US. It was really a very important

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Speaker 2: role to me because they were finally giving me a

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Speaker 2: chance to be a dramatic actor and it was not

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Speaker 2: about being Latino.

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Speaker 1: You know, people I know this happens to you, ill Henu,

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Speaker 1: it happens to me right, you reach a certain level

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Speaker 1: of visibility and because of social medi frankly, life can

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Speaker 1: look great on social media, but actually it's really hard.

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Speaker 1: Like you're having to go into an audition cold. You

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Speaker 1: don't have to audition for anything in Mexico and here

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Speaker 1: you're going into an audition where they're just like, yeah,

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Speaker 1: try this guy out. People need to understand it's really hard.

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Speaker 1: What does that hard part do for you? The fact

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Speaker 1: that it's like, oh, what is I mean? You know,

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Speaker 1: your company is named Threepas. It's all about trusting your gut,

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Speaker 1: but you know, the gut is also we can get wounded,

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Speaker 1: we can get hit right in our gut.

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Speaker 2: Right constantly, constantly since I moved to this country, every

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Speaker 2: single day I am doing things that make me feel

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Speaker 2: uncomfortable in a good way. I mean, when I was

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Speaker 2: in Mexico, I was the king in Televisa.

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Speaker 4: So here every.

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Speaker 2: Single day I'm like, oh my god, I have a

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Speaker 2: meeting in Universal Studios or Paramounds or Sony and a

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Speaker 2: lot of important executives and in English, and English is

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Speaker 2: not my first language. As you can tell, it's complicated,

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Speaker 2: so I'm always like full of fear. It has helped

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Speaker 2: me to be more humble, honestly, and it makes me nervous.

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Speaker 2: Of course, I prepare way more than when I was young,

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Speaker 2: because I'm now in Hollywood.

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Speaker 4: It's the top of the line.

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Speaker 2: You know, there's nothing beyond that, so I need to

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Speaker 2: be really prepared. I need to take sometimes acting lessons

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Speaker 2: just for a casting. But on the other hand, that's

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Speaker 2: the kind of things that keep me young, that keep

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Speaker 2: me hungry, that make me feel like when I was

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Speaker 2: I don't know, seventeen eighteen years old, and I was

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Speaker 2: studying my life and fighting for credibility, a teenager fighting

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Speaker 2: for a place in the world.

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Speaker 1: Coming up on Latino USA, we continue our conversation with

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Speaker 1: Mexican actor and producer a Hano that is and talk

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Speaker 1: about the challenges of taking on a lead role in

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Speaker 1: a dramatic movie. Stay with us, not yes, Hey, we're back.

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Speaker 1: We're going to continue chatting with Eheno Verbees. We're talking

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Speaker 1: about his transition from comedy star in Mexico and Latin

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Speaker 1: America to his most recent work, a dramatic lead role

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Speaker 1: in his own movie Radical. It's the true story of

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Speaker 1: a teacher in Matamoros, a Mexican border city, who tries

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Speaker 1: to support his students in an underserved community. All right,

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Speaker 1: let's jump back to our conversation. So you decide to

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Speaker 1: fight again in an interesting way because you know, after

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Speaker 1: you win the Oscar again, the doors now are more open,

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Speaker 1: just more open. Somebody could have thought, well, Eheno is

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Speaker 1: now going to do a fully English language film, very mainstream,

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Speaker 1: you know, because he's fully mainstream now. Instead, you released

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Speaker 1: at the end of twenty twenty three radcal or Radical.

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Speaker 1: You make this fully spent language with subtitles. It did

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Speaker 1: win the Festival Favorite Award at the twenty twenty three

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Speaker 1: Sundance Film Festival. That was huge, and we decided that

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Speaker 1: we wanted to have you describe what Radical is about.

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Speaker 1: So what's the plot, what's the storyline? It's based on

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Speaker 1: a true story.

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Speaker 2: The Wired magazine in the US named a twelve year

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Speaker 2: old kid the next Steve Jobs. And this is the

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Speaker 2: story of a girl that was born in the trash

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Speaker 2: that wants to become an astronaut and that she has

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Speaker 2: the potential to get there. And then I learned that

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Speaker 2: there was a teacher behind this girl and many other things.

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Speaker 2: So I remember I was in twenty twelve living in Mexico.

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Speaker 2: Back then, I was watching the news and everyone was

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Speaker 2: talking about that.

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Speaker 1: It was a big moment.

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Speaker 4: It was a big It was a big moment in Mexico.

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Speaker 2: Wiredespecialnologia a persona in particular Como Lasso says so.

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Speaker 4: Postive jobs, and I was shocked.

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Speaker 2: I mean, how come this twelve year old girl from

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Speaker 2: a small public school in Matamora was now named the

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Speaker 2: next step Jobs? But they didn't tell a lot about

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Speaker 2: the story, about the background of Paloma. So a few

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Speaker 2: years later, when I moved already to the US, the

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Speaker 2: journalist who wrote the original article came to us and

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Speaker 2: he offered the rights for the movie, and I immediately

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Speaker 2: say yes, let's do it. I said, this is the

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Speaker 2: kind of stories I need to tell. First because it's interesting,

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Speaker 2: Second because I know this is going to be universal.

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Speaker 2: This story could happen in any part of the world

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Speaker 2: and you're going to feel identified. And also because it

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Speaker 2: was the kind of movies that I want to tell

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Speaker 2: in my company. Movies were Even though it's a raw,

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Speaker 2: very raw and tough movie, you can see also people

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Speaker 2: like Sei Ho, the teacher or Paloma the student. There

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Speaker 2: are good people, good Mexicans, and I was tired of

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Speaker 2: watching the news and just watching the faces of the

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Speaker 2: narcos or the criminals or the gang members.

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Speaker 4: And we're more than that.

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Speaker 2: So it's time to put the spotlight on the good

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Speaker 2: people too.

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Speaker 1: The interesting thing is for you in this movie is

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Speaker 1: that there's nothing between Eheno Derbz and the audience. We

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Speaker 1: don't see you actually in any comedic form. We don't

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Speaker 1: see you wearing any kind of interesting get up or

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Speaker 1: look at all. It's very, as you said, raw, And

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Speaker 1: it's kind of like again this time because it's not

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Speaker 1: in somebody else's film, it's your film. It's the comedic

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Speaker 1: megastar who is really choosing to be quite serious. So

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Speaker 1: can you tell us a little bit about that very

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Speaker 1: particular decision. Again, of the United States is a place

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Speaker 1: where you've had to keep yourself grounded. But what about

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Speaker 1: this notion about you, the comedic megastarre really saying I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna be serious. I'm taking it yet another step further

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Speaker 1: than coda. Right. Absolutely, it's intentional.

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Speaker 2: It's completely intentional, and it was actually this is my

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Speaker 2: first dramatic role starring in a movie, because I've done

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Speaker 2: a little bit, but not much, but some dramatic roles

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Speaker 2: in other movies. But it's just like Coda probably was

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Speaker 2: the biggest role I've got.

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Speaker 4: But I was part of the ensemble cast, right, this

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Speaker 4: is you.

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Speaker 2: This is me just starring in a dramatic moviecause st Loco.

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Speaker 1: Let's that's what youngle that.

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Speaker 4: So look, I'm okay, you see see what.

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Speaker 2: Probably two days before you start shooting, I was having

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Speaker 2: second thoughts. I got cold feet. I was like, what

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Speaker 2: am I doing here? People are going to criticize me.

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Speaker 2: They're gonna say, what what is he doing here?

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Speaker 4: Hello?

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Speaker 2: He should go back to his characters exactly, all that

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Speaker 2: stuff that I was like, Oh my god.

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Speaker 4: I was so nervous. I thought it was a mistake.

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Speaker 2: Probably I thought that I should just produce it but

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Speaker 2: not be an actor in it. So I was panicked, honestly,

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Speaker 2: especially because the director, Christopher Sala, who's been all around

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Speaker 2: the world, he was not aware of Mexico and how

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Speaker 2: they perceive my image there, and so I was constantly

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Speaker 2: fighting with him, like Chris, you don't know people. They

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Speaker 2: know me really well, so I don't want them to

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Speaker 2: see hen you at a bese on screen, I want

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Speaker 2: them to see the character. So I was fighting to

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Speaker 2: put something in my face, like a different hairdle or

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Speaker 2: glasses or something, and he was like, no, I want

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Speaker 2: you just like that. Yeah, And I felt so insecure.

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Speaker 2: I remember that I was talking to my business partner

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Speaker 2: and because he was like, if you want, you can

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Speaker 2: talk as a producer and say no, there's away and

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Speaker 2: do whatever you want. I didn't want to because I

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Speaker 2: was like, I've been there and I don't want to

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Speaker 2: be the respectful with the director. So now I'm talking

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Speaker 2: as an actor and I don't feel comfortable, but I

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Speaker 2: need to obey my director.

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Speaker 4: And probably he was right.

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Speaker 1: He was right, he was right.

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Speaker 2: And now it's probably one of the most beautiful compliments

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Speaker 2: that I've been reading constantly and social media that they say,

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Speaker 2: I didn't see Anulaves in that character. I forgot that

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Speaker 2: it Wasves and for me that it was one of

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Speaker 2: the best compliments I've got in my career.

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Speaker 1: So this notion of wanting to do stories based on

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Speaker 1: real life, right, because you also did the twenty sixteen

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Speaker 1: film Miracles from Heaven. But there's again, it is a

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Speaker 1: quite serious decision. For you. I want to do stories

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Speaker 1: that are gritty, very much about gannas also three pass guts, desire,

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Speaker 1: being hungry, and based on real life. And why is that.

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Speaker 2: I love stories that are based in real life For

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Speaker 2: some reason me as an audience, I love those kind

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Speaker 2: of stories because I feel they have an extra ingredient

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Speaker 2: that makes you realize that even if it's something that

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Speaker 2: it's incredible, you know that it happened and it immediately

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Speaker 2: has a bigger value for me.

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Speaker 4: And it's a beautiful true story. And that's what I

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Speaker 4: love that.

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Speaker 2: I'm always thinking that there are still good people that

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Speaker 2: can make great changes in the world.

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Speaker 1: So the story is about said here the teacher who

437
00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:41,840
Speaker 1: is working with Baaloma. It's a lot about, you know,

438
00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:46,760
Speaker 1: breaking what's happening in failed educational systems. When we were

439
00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:49,679
Speaker 1: prepping the interviews, it's not a failed public educational system

440
00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:53,119
Speaker 1: just in Mexico. No, it's a failed public education system

441
00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:55,879
Speaker 1: in the United States. Even though the Secretary of Education

442
00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:59,640
Speaker 1: now Miguel Gardona, you know, talks about bilingual as a superpower.

443
00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:03,439
Speaker 1: It's a big change, but it's in general in this country,

444
00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:07,360
Speaker 1: they're trying to not teach history right, like literally literally

445
00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:10,040
Speaker 1: change it. So when can you give us a quick

446
00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:13,400
Speaker 1: update on what's happened in all of the time since

447
00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:16,080
Speaker 1: Baloma was written about and said he was the teacher, Like,

448
00:26:16,119 --> 00:26:19,040
Speaker 1: what's the quick update and what do you want people

449
00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:19,639
Speaker 1: to take away?

450
00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:22,320
Speaker 4: Well, there are a lot of messages here.

451
00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:24,919
Speaker 2: First of all, let me tell you what's going on

452
00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:29,320
Speaker 2: with the real Paloma and the real Serhiu. The real Paloma.

453
00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:34,399
Speaker 2: Usually in that kind of environment in those schools, kids

454
00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:38,800
Speaker 2: they don't even finish elementary school. When we were talking

455
00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:41,399
Speaker 2: to say, one of the worst problems in the school

456
00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:44,840
Speaker 2: that he was teaching, it was that kids quit in

457
00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:47,119
Speaker 2: the middle of the year because they have to work,

458
00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:50,200
Speaker 2: because they have to take care of their families, their

459
00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:55,280
Speaker 2: little brothers, so mom or dad can go work. Some

460
00:26:55,359 --> 00:26:58,119
Speaker 2: of them end up in crime, you know, working for

461
00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:04,240
Speaker 2: the criminal organizado. They're not so it's unthinkable that someone

462
00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:07,240
Speaker 2: would go all the way up to high school forget

463
00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:11,560
Speaker 2: about college. Well, Paloma, she's like two or three months

464
00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:17,320
Speaker 2: away of finishing college nowadays. She wanted to be an astronaut,

465
00:27:17,359 --> 00:27:21,320
Speaker 2: but she ended up in law school because she felt

466
00:27:21,320 --> 00:27:25,359
Speaker 2: that she would be more helpful to her community by

467
00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:28,920
Speaker 2: being a lawyer and right now, she's about to finish

468
00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:35,000
Speaker 2: college as a lawyer. The teacher when I was shooting

469
00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:38,520
Speaker 2: the movie and he came to visit, I asked him,

470
00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:40,960
Speaker 2: where are you now and he said, I'm still in

471
00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:43,639
Speaker 2: the same school, teaching the same grade. And I was like,

472
00:27:44,119 --> 00:27:48,080
Speaker 2: but why, and he said, after the magazine came out,

473
00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:52,959
Speaker 2: a lot of people approached me, especially private schools, and

474
00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:57,440
Speaker 2: they offered me amazing opportunities, a great salary. It's in

475
00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:00,920
Speaker 2: a much better place, with a lot of equipment and computers,

476
00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:04,080
Speaker 2: et cetera. And I felt that I was betraying my

477
00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:08,040
Speaker 2: kids by leaving to a better place. So I decided

478
00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:11,399
Speaker 2: to stay in the same school, in the same grade

479
00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:14,840
Speaker 2: because I feel that here is where they need me more.

480
00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:21,080
Speaker 1: That isn't that beautiful the lessons we learn from the

481
00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:24,080
Speaker 1: people that we need. You know, as a journalist, when

482
00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:27,919
Speaker 1: people ask me like, oh, what famous person, It's like, no, Actually,

483
00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:30,680
Speaker 1: the people who inspire me the most are the people.

484
00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:34,400
Speaker 1: They are just out there doing their thing exactly, whether

485
00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:38,680
Speaker 1: as artists or as teachers, or as people defending their community.

486
00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:41,640
Speaker 1: Now it is impressionante, I know. If you look at

487
00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:46,000
Speaker 1: humanity from the possibility as opposed to humanity as a threat, right,

488
00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:50,880
Speaker 1: because you are of these two worlds. Are you hopeful

489
00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:54,880
Speaker 1: about the United States? Are you hopeful about Mexico. It's

490
00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:57,240
Speaker 1: an election year in the United States, it's an election

491
00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:01,600
Speaker 1: year in Mexico. Like, are you feeling hopeful or not?

492
00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:03,800
Speaker 4: Oh, that's a great question.

493
00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:12,840
Speaker 2: Not much, honestly, why Because I remember years ago we

494
00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:17,040
Speaker 2: were all excited about some candidates and there will always differences,

495
00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:19,960
Speaker 2: and you want to, oh, I'll go right or left,

496
00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:24,560
Speaker 2: or black or white. But nowadays in both countries, you

497
00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:27,120
Speaker 2: don't see like something that you like, you know what

498
00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:29,480
Speaker 2: I mean. It's not like, oh, I would like this

499
00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:33,240
Speaker 2: person to be or president in this country or in

500
00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:35,880
Speaker 2: this other country. I feel that it's like always the

501
00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:39,840
Speaker 2: same thing. There's not a new air or a big change,

502
00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:43,560
Speaker 2: and that makes me a little bit concerned. I would

503
00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:45,920
Speaker 2: like to have another option, you know, so we can

504
00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:49,280
Speaker 2: at least have something different. But nowadays it feels like

505
00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:52,400
Speaker 2: everything is the same. And I love both countries because

506
00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:54,600
Speaker 2: I was born in Mexico, but now I live in

507
00:29:54,600 --> 00:29:58,320
Speaker 2: the US and I love the US too, and I'm

508
00:29:58,400 --> 00:30:00,080
Speaker 2: worried about both countries.

509
00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:01,400
Speaker 4: Honestly.

510
00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:03,920
Speaker 1: All right, Well, we're gonna switch Channa Lists. Let's talk

511
00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:06,920
Speaker 1: about dreams. One of the things that I do. I'm

512
00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:10,080
Speaker 1: a professor at Barnard College, my alma mater, and I

513
00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:13,560
Speaker 1: start all of my classes I ask my students, what's

514
00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:18,040
Speaker 1: your craziest, wildest dream, Like I want to be an astronaut.

515
00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:21,320
Speaker 1: So right now, do you have a crazy, wild dream

516
00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:25,320
Speaker 1: that you're like that you're prepared to say?

517
00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:25,800
Speaker 4: God?

518
00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:29,680
Speaker 2: For many many years, it was winning an Oscar, But

519
00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:34,400
Speaker 2: now I feel that it's more about telling stories that

520
00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:38,520
Speaker 2: could change the world more than winning an award. Sometimes

521
00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:41,040
Speaker 2: there are movies that are amazing that they didn't made

522
00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:44,000
Speaker 2: it to the Oscars, and sometimes there are movies that

523
00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:46,960
Speaker 2: won an Oscar and they're not that good. Probably, So

524
00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:50,560
Speaker 2: now I'm part now of a movie that won on Oscar.

525
00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:54,320
Speaker 2: That makes me happy. I'm probably still I would like

526
00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:57,440
Speaker 2: to have one by myself. Probably that would be my

527
00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:00,920
Speaker 2: wildest dream. But also make a movie that can make

528
00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:05,280
Speaker 2: a difference. And that said, I probably feel that radical

529
00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:08,600
Speaker 2: is one of them. So I feel that radical can

530
00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:12,120
Speaker 2: make a lot of huge changes in the world. We

531
00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:15,520
Speaker 2: are already talking to politicians in Mexico and in the US,

532
00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:18,840
Speaker 2: and my hope is that we can start a conversation

533
00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:23,480
Speaker 2: about a new way of teaching kids, and I hope

534
00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:27,440
Speaker 2: they can approach to Cerciu, the teacher in Radical, to

535
00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:30,680
Speaker 2: see if we can reply his model in other schools.

536
00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:33,680
Speaker 4: That would be for me one of a dream come true.

537
00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:36,960
Speaker 4: Definitely the best.

538
00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:39,960
Speaker 1: It has been so much fun talking to you, which

539
00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:41,400
Speaker 1: I get to ask us then we want to come

540
00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:43,960
Speaker 1: and visit Latino Usa. We love having you on the

541
00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:45,680
Speaker 1: show and continue success.

542
00:31:45,840 --> 00:32:00,000
Speaker 6: Thank you very much, Love you.

543
00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:11,360
Speaker 1: This episode was produced by Gini Montalbo and Glori mar Marquez.

544
00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:14,920
Speaker 1: It was edited by Marta Martinez and mixed by Julia Caruso.

545
00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:19,600
Speaker 1: The Latino USA team also includes Victori Estrada, re Renardo

546
00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:24,239
Speaker 1: Lanos Junior, Andrea Lopez Rusado, Mike Sargent, Nor Saudi, and

547
00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:28,960
Speaker 1: Nancy Trujuio. Benile Ramirez is our co executive producer. Our

548
00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:33,520
Speaker 1: director of Engineering is Stephanie Lebau, additional engineering support by

549
00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:38,400
Speaker 1: Gabriel Lebias and JJ Carubin. Our marketing manager is Luis Luna.

550
00:32:38,760 --> 00:32:41,880
Speaker 1: Our theme music was composed by Zane Roinos, I'm your

551
00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:44,840
Speaker 1: host and executive producer Marianno Posa. Join us again on

552
00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:47,280
Speaker 1: our next episode and in the meantime, look for us

553
00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:54,440
Speaker 1: on social media and remember always and forever not Bayes. Bye.

554
00:32:56,320 --> 00:33:00,800
Speaker 3: Latino USA is made possible in part by the Ford Foundation,

555
00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:05,400
Speaker 3: working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide,

556
00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:10,720
Speaker 3: the John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and Agnes

557
00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:11,120
Speaker 3: Gund