Title: FILMING ...AND THE EARTH DID NOT SWALLOW HIM: AN INTERVIEW WITH SEVERO PEREZ
Abstract: [Los ANGELES. MARCH, 1999.] While, as Ramon Saldivar has contended, most Chicano writing is marginalized in American academic discourse (3), Tomas Rivera's lyrical story of Chicano migrancy . . . y no se to trago la tierral. . . and the earth did not part has been increasingly canonized since its publication in 1971. Chancellor of the University of California, Riverside, at the time of his death in 1984, Rivera had a national reputation as writer, academic, and advocate of Chicano rights, a reputation that continues to grow. Widely recognized to be his most significant text, . . . y no se to trago la tierra. . . and the earth did not part is at once a coming-of-age story and a collective portrait of Chicano resilience in the face of oppression. Strains of the Chicano movement of the late 1960s-particularly the conflict mounting in his home town of Crystal City, Texas, where the Chicano majority struggled to gain political powerinform Rivera's provocative prose (Sommers 101; Saldivar 77). Similarly impassioned by Crystal City politics, independent filmmaker and playwright Severo Perez knew that he wanted to film Rivera's narrative as soon as he read it in 1973. Tackling racist obstacles in the industry, he finally succeeded in completing the project more than 20 years later. His adaptation . . . and the earth did not swallow him, has won awards around the world. Set in 1952, the film centers on a twelve-yearold boy's struggle to come to grips with the conflicts he and other migrant workers experience in Texas and Minnesota. Supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, American Playhouse, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Latino Communications Center, the Texas Committee for the Humanities, and the California Council for the Humanities, it aired nationally on PBS in 1996. In this interview, Perez discusses his work as scriptwriter, director, and co-producer of the film and takes a critical look at problems Chicano filmmakers encounter in the industry. Early Career FITZSIMMONS: What led you to filmmaking? PEREZ: I was born in San Antonio, Texas, and graduated from the University of Texas in Austin. I've always loved films ever since I was a child. When I was eight years old, I used to go to movies secretly, instead of going to my craft activities at the YMCA. I'd see the double bill at the Texas Theater, or the first run at the palatial Majestic Theater in downtown San Antonio. But being so far away from Hollywood or any concept of where stories were created, I had no idea of how they were done. However, if there was any major influence on my life at that time, it was radio and early television. I loved stories. I come from a storytelling family. Everybody told stories. My grandmother and grandfather told the most interesting stories. I grew up with a tradition of storytelling, but I had no idea of how a movie was constructed, invented, or anything. It was something that existed on the screen and had its own life. But I started writing radio plays when I was about 13 or 14. That led to writing short stories. I became very interested in literature in high school. Still I had no idea about moviemaking. And when I went to college, my interest was primarily in writing. I took short story workshops and theater workshops. At 17, I had this idea that I wanted to be a writer. But there were no degrees for writers. So I decided a writer had to know about everything, and history was about everything, and therefore I should major in history. At the time, tuition was $75 a semester. I don't know if I could have gotten an education if I were young and poor today, as I was young and poor then. I worked at the library while I was going to college. That paid me just about enough to pay the rent and left me about $25 a month to eat. At the end of the month, I'd be eating peanut butter. After I graduated, I went into the service. I am a Vietnam War era veteran. …
Publication Year: 2000
Publication Date: 2000-07-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 1
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