My Family
Theatrical Poster
Directed by	Gregory Nava
Produced by	Executive Producer: Francis Ford Coppola Producers: Anna Thomas and others.
Written by	Gregory Nava Anna Thomas
Starring	Jimmy Smits Edward James Olmos Esai Morales
Music by	Orchestral: Mark McKenzie Folk Music: Pepe Ávila
Cinematography	Edward Lachman Jason Poteet
Editing by	Nancy Richardson
Distributed by	New Line Cinema
Release date(s)	May 3, 1995
Running time	128 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English Spanish
Budget	$5,500,000 Estimated.
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

My Family is a 1995 film directed by Gregory Nava and written by Gregory Nava and his wife, Anna Thomas. The film is also known as My Family/Mi Familia.^[1]

Tagline: Three generations of dreams.

Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (350x639, 175 KB) I scanned the cover of the video I own. ... Gregory Nava publicity photo Gregory Nava, a third generation Mexican-American (born April 10, 1949 in San Diego, California) is a film director, producer and screenplay writer, of Mexican and Basque heritage. ... Francis Ford Coppola (born April 7, 1939) is a five time Academy Award winning American film director, producer, and screenwriter. ... Anna Thomas is a producer and screenplay writer. ... Gregory Nava publicity photo Gregory Nava, a third generation Mexican-American (born April 10, 1949 in San Diego, California) is a film director, producer and screenplay writer, of Mexican and Basque heritage. ... Jimmy Smits as President Matt Santos on The West Wing. ... Edward James Olmos (born February 24, 1947) is an Academy Award-nominated Mexican-American actor. ... Esai Morales Esai Morales (born October 1, 1962) is an actor who most recently starred as Lt. ... New Line Cinema logo New Line Cinema, founded in 1967, is one of the major American film studios. ... May 3 is the 123rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (124th in leap years). ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... // March 28 - Actress Julia Roberts and singer Lyle Lovett announce their plans for separation November - After a six-year hiatus, the James Bond film series resumes with the successful GoldenEye. ... Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ... Gregory Nava publicity photo Gregory Nava, a third generation Mexican-American (born April 10, 1949 in San Diego, California) is a film director, producer and screenplay writer, of Mexican and Basque heritage. ... Anna Thomas is a producer and screenplay writer. ...

Plot

The film tracks three generations of a Mexican-American family that emigrated from Mexico and settled in East Los Angeles. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... East Los Angeles, California (unincorporated community) East Los Angeles (region) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

The film begins with the father of the family, Jose Sanchez (Jacob Vargas), making a journey that lasts one year on foot from Mexico to Los Angeles. He travels to LA to meet a very old man known as El Californio, who was born in Los Angeles when it was still part of Mexico. On his tombstone El Californio wants it written, "And where I lie, it is still Mexico." This gives audiences the point-of-view of the story. Tombstone most commonly means a headstone marking the grave of a deceased person. ...

He meets and marries the love of his life, Maria (Jennifer Lopez), an American citizen. After Maria is illegaly deported to Mexico by the US federal government, she returns to Los Angeles. The trip back home is long and arduous but she and Jose settle down and raise a family of six. J. Lo redirects here. ... The word citizen may refer to: A person with a citizenship Citizen Watch Co. ... A federal government is the common government of a federation. ...

The second generation, in the 1950s, deals with the children of Maria and Jose, and the continued ethnic bigotry they face in Los Angeles. Jose and Maria produce a writer (Paco), a nun (Toni), an ex-convict (Jimmy), a lawyer (Memo), a restaurant owner, and a boy shot dead (Chucho). A bigot is a prejudiced person who is intolerant of opinions, lifestyles or identities differing from their own. ... Nun in cloister, 1930; photograph by Doris Ulmann A nun is a woman who has taken special vows committing her to a religious life. ... English barrister 16th century painting of a civil law notary, by Flemish painter Quentin Massys. ...

In the 1980s, as the second generation matures, the third generation face situations like acculturation, assimilation, and the echos of past wrongs on the family. Pocahontas, in England, as Mrs John Rolfe, 1616: engraving after Simon Van de Passe Acculturation is the obtainment of culture by an individual or a group of people. ... Assimilation, from Latin assimilatio meaning to render similar, is used to describe various phenomena: schema (psychology), the process of assimilating new ideas into a schema (cognitive structure). ...

In an interesting scene Isabel (Elpidia Carrillo), Jimmy Sanchez' (Jimmy Smits) wife (a Salvadorian refugee), who he married so she wouldn't be deported, comes up to him and changes the music in the cassette-player. She tries to get him to dance with her, on the street. At first he doesn't want to and he's not sure he loves her, but she finally succeeds. He asks her at the end of the song, "Will you teach me how to salsa?" In the end they turn out to be a happy couple. This scene serves as a methaphor for the continuation of the family. Elpidia Carrillo (born 1963 in Michoacan, Mexico) is an actress who has participated in various acclaimed Hollywood films. ... Jimmy Smits as President Matt Santos on The West Wing. ... Salvador (meaning saviour in Spanish and Portuguese) can be: the Central American nation of El Salvador. ... For other uses, see Dance (disambiguation). ...

Film notes

The film opened in the US in wide release on May 3, 1995. May 3 is the 123rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (124th in leap years). ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

While the film was distributed by New Line Cinema, many production companies were involved in the making of the film. The include: American Playhouse, Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope, Majestic Films International, and Newcomb Productions. New Line Cinema logo New Line Cinema, founded in 1967, is one of the major American film studios. ... American Playhouse is a dramatic anthology television series presenting original movies on PBS. External links American Playhouse at The Internet Movie Database Categories: | | | | ... Francis Ford Coppola (born April 7, 1939) is a five time Academy Award winning American film director, producer, and screenwriter. ... American Zoetrope is the name of the studios founded by Francis Ford Coppola, named after a collection of zoetropes he was given in the late 1960s by filmmaker and collector of early motion picture making equipment, Mogens Skot-Hansen. ...

Gregory Nava has stated that the film has autobiographic overtones, but the film was more inspirational rather than specific. Nava says, "A lot of the specifics came from other families when I was doing research for the film in East Los Angeles."^[2]

The final scene is duplicated shot-for-shot from the final scene of Apur Sansar (1959).^[3] Third and last of the famous Apu Trilogy, a series of films about a boy named Apu in early twentieth century Bengal by Satyajit Ray. ...

Sales at the boxoffice were lackluster. The first week's gross was $2,164,840 and the total receipts for the run were $11,079,373.^[4] The budget of the film is estimated at $5,500,000.

Filming locations

The film was filmed in both California and Mexico. In California locations include: Agoura Hills and Los Angeles, California. In Mexico locations include: Ocumichu, Patamba, and Pátzcuaro, all in Michoacán, Mexico. Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... Agoura Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, and has the zip code of 91301. ... Nickname: City of Angels Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates: State California County Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Area    - City 1,290. ... Pátzcuaro, which means place of stones in the Purepecha language, is a city in the state of Michoacán, Mexico. ... Michoacán de Ocampo (From michamacuan, Nahuatl for the place of the fishermen) is one of the 31 constituent states of Mexico. ...

Releases

A video was released April 8, 1997 and a DVD version was released on April 6, 2006 by New Line Home Video. A Spanish version video was also released. April 8 is the 98th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (99th in leap years). ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... DVD (commonly Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc) is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for data storage, including movies with high video and sound quality. ... April 6 is the 96th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (97th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Critical reception

The film opened to good reviews. Roger Ebert, writing for the Chicago Sun Times, said, "Their story is told in images of startling beauty and great overflowing energy; it is rare to hear so much laughter from an audience that is also sometimes moved to tears. Few movies like this get made because few filmmakers have the ambition to open their arms wide and embrace so much life."^[5] Russ Meyer (left) and Roger Ebert, (1970) Roger Joseph Ebert (June 18, 1942 - ) is an Emmy Award-nominated American television personality, author, and film critic who began writing for the Chicago Sun-Times in 1967. ... Chicago Sun-Times The Chicago Sun-Times is an American newspaper publishing out of Chicago, Illinois. ...

Not all were so kind. Caryn James, in a film review in the New York Times said the film was "wildly eneven" and "offers a trite, overblown narration by Edward James Olmos and an often flagging sense of drama." She's also not happy with Nava's direction. She states, "[Nava]seems so enamored of the texture of Mexican-American life that he glides past any sense of character." ^[6] Yet, she is very complementary of Jimmy Smits' performance. The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

Cast and ratings

• Jimmy Smits as Jimmy Sanchez
• Edward James Olmos as Paco
• Esai Morales as Chucho
• Elpidia Carrillo as Isabel
• Enrique Castillo as Memo Sanchez
• Rafael Cortés as Roberto
• Constance Marie as Toni Sanchez
• Scott Bakula as David
• Lupe Ontiveros as Irene Sanchez
• León Singer as El Californio
• Mary Steenburgen as Gloria
• Dedee Pfeiffer as Karen Gillespie
• Bibi Besch as Mrs. Gillespie
• Bruce Gray as Mr. Gillespie
• Eduardo Lopez Rojas as Jose Sanchez
• Jennifer Lopez as Maria Sanchez, in the 1920s

A motion picture rating system categorizes films with regard to suitability for children and/or adults in terms of issues such as sex, violence and profanity. ... A motion picture rating system categorizes films with regard to suitability for children and/or adults in terms of issues such as sex, violence and profanity. ... A motion picture rating system categorizes films with regard to suitability for children and/or adults in terms of issues such as sex, violence and profanity. ... British Board of Film Classification logo The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), originally British Board of Film Censors, is the organisation responsible for film and some video game classification and censorship within the United Kingdom. ... The MPAA film rating system is a system used in the United States and territories and instituted by the Motion Picture Association of America to rate a movie based on its content. ... Jimmy Smits as President Matt Santos on The West Wing. ... Edward James Olmos (born February 24, 1947) is an Academy Award-nominated Mexican-American actor. ... Esai Morales Esai Morales (born October 1, 1962) is an actor who most recently starred as Lt. ... Elpidia Carrillo (born 1963 in Michoacan, Mexico) is an actress who has participated in various acclaimed Hollywood films. ... Constance Marie (b. ... Scott Bakula Scott Stewart Bakula (born October 9, 1954) is an American television actor most famous for his lead role in the television series Quantum Leap. ... Lupe Ontiveros is a Mexican-American actress born Lupe Moreno on September 17, 1942, in El Paso, Texas. ... Mary Steenburgen with Malcolm McDowell in Time After Time (1979). ... On the cover of Playboy, February 2002 Dedee Pfeiffer (b. ... Bibi Besch (February 1, 1940 - September 7, 1996) was one of those talented performers whom fans often recognize by face, but rarely know by name. ... Bruce Gray (born 1939) is a Canadian character actor (although he was actually born in Puerto Rico to Canadian parents and lived there until he was thirteen). ... J. Lo redirects here. ...

Soundtrack

For the original motion picture soundtrack the producers include a cross section of Latino music, including a merengue and a mambo. Yet, the 1950s tune Angel Baby is included as well. Merengue is a type of lively, joyful music and dance that comes from the Dominican Republic. ... Mambo is a Cuban musical form and dance style. ...

A CD was released on April 25, 1995 on the Nonesuch Records label. The CD contains 14 tracks including the main title theme writen by Mark Mc Kenzie and Pepe Avila. Gregory Nava wrote the liner notes for the CD. Nonesuch Records is currently allied with Warner Bros. ...

Performers include: Perez Prado, Los Lobos, Juan Luis Guerra, Pedro Infante and Jeanette Jurado, and others. Dámaso Pérez Prado, a Cuban bandleader and composer, was born on December 11, 1916 in Matanzas, Cuba. ... Los Lobos is an American rock band, heavily influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country music, folk, R&B, blues, and traditional Spanish and Mexican music such as boleros and norteños. ... Juan Luis Guerra (born June 7, 1957 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a Dominican singer and songwriter best known for popularizing merengue and bachata styles of music internationally. ... Pedro Infante (left) and Jorge Negrete Pedro Infante (November 18, 1917 – April 15, 1957) was a Mexican actor and singer. ... Jeanette singing at the Exposé reunion concert in 2003 Jeanette Livier Jurado is a Mexican-American singer and a member of the popular girl group Exposé. She was born on November 14, 1965 in Pico Rivera, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. ...

Composer Mark McKenzie also released Con Passione (2001), a CD that contains various tracks he has written for various films including 7 tracks for My Family.

Awards

Nominated:

• Academy Awards: Best Make-Up.
• Casting Society of America: Best Casting for Feature Film.
• Independent Spirit Awards: Best Male Lead, Jimmy Smits; Best Supporting Female, Jennifer Lopez.

Wins: The references in this article would be clearer with a different and/or consistent style of citation, footnoting or external linking. ... Founded in Los Angeles, California in 1982, the Casting Society of America (CSA) is a professional society of about 350 casting directors for film, television, and theatre in Australia, Canada, England, Italy, and the United States. ... Founded in 1984, the Independent Spirit Awards were originally known as the FINDIE (Friends of Independents) Awards and presented winners with Plexiglas pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films. ...

• NCLR Bravo Award: Outstanding Feature Film.
• Donostia-San Sebastián International Film Festival: OCIC Award Gregory Nava.

The Alma Awards or American Latino Media Arts Awards are distinctions awarded to Latino performers (actors, film and television directors, and musicians) who promote positive portrayals of Hispanics. ... The Donostia-San Sebastián International Film Festival is an annual film festival which originated in 1953 and is held in the Spanish town of Donostia. ...

References

1. ^ Imdb film data base.
2. ^ Cineaste. Interview with Gregory Nava.
3. ^ Imdb, ibid.
4. ^ The Numbers box office data.
5. ^ Ebert, Roger. Chicago Sun Times, film review, May 3, 1995.
6. ^ James, Caryn. New York Times, film review, May 3, 1985.

May 3 is the 123rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (124th in leap years). ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Top Ten film reviews.