Ultra-Topical Illegal Immigrant Feature 'The Hungry Woman' Main Course Thu. Nite Jun. 14 At Nat'l Assn. Hispanic Journalists Confab

Ultra-Topical Illegal Immigrant Feature 'The Hungry Woman' Main Course Thu. Nite Jun. 14 At Nat'l Assn. Hispanic Journalists Confab

Gritty Latino Migrant Drama Starring Dancing Phenom Olivia Pena & Teen Heartthrob Roberto Enrique Humanizes Values, Issues at Odds in S.1348

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2,000 delegates attending the National Association of Hispanic Journalists' 25th Anniversary Convention (Jun. 13-16) at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center will be treated to a sneak preview of the likely seminal immigration movie of the decade, as writer-director Glenn Palmedo-Smith's San Diego-set bilingual 35mm feature film "The Hungry Woman" will unspool Thu. Jun. 14 at 8:00 p.m. before the nation's leading Latino print and broadcast news professionals at the historic California Theatre here, it was announced by NAHJ executive director Ivan Roman.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070607/LATH140)

Uniquely poised to influence the national debate on immigration reform as currently embodied by U.S. Senate Bill 1348, Dini Films Intl.'s "Hungry Woman" follows the onerous travails of an exuberant Mexican emigre and her adolescent brother, played by 2007 Emerald Ball international dance champion (and a producer on the film) Olivia Pena in her screen debut and Planetal Records recording artist-actor Roberto Enrique ("Nuevo Dia," FX's "The Shield"), as they seek the American dream from the cover of their clandestine camp amid the specter of a real-life-inspired murder with national security implications.

"Considering the political climate, we couldn't have programmed a more relevant picture that boasts such a heart-warming yet gut-wrenching portrayal of the contemporary immigrant experience," said Roman, whose trade organization's entertainment offerings from various events past have included Newmarket Films' "Real Women Have Curves" and the Samuel Goldwyn Co. breakout "Tortilla Soup."

Main set piece of the daringly realized film -- which also features performances by "Real Women Have Curves" co-star Lina Acosta and Mexican film icon Luis Torner -- is production designer Ido Gondelman's elaborately recreated migrant camp, built on a scale worthy of the Kyoto entertainment district erected in Ventura, CA, for director Rob Marshall's "Memoirs of a Geisha." At one point during production, in fact, shooting on "Hungry Woman" (aka "La Mujer Hambrienta") was interrupted when locals mistook the set for an actual encampment of hundreds of undocumented immigrants.

Undocumented immigrants are unabashedly front and center in both Mr. Palmedo-Smith's fictional and Sen. Harry Reid's real worlds, now that the Senate Majority Leader has introduced the Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007 for the 110th U.S. Congress to consider as Quail's End Distribution Co. is ramping up for a late summer release of the emotionally charged film.

For more information, visit http://www.thehungrywoman.com/, http://www.nahj.org/ or http://www.dinifilms.com/.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Photo: NewsCom:

http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070607/LATH140
AP Archive:

http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN9
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Dini Films International; Dugan & Story

CONTACT: Scotty Dugan at Dugan & Story, +1-818-506-5577,
duganstory@aim.com, or Rosa Maria Santana at NAHJ, +1-213-627-0388,
rsantana@nahj.org, or Dini Films International, +1-858-756-1373,
info@dinifilms.com

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