FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                   
May 23, 2011                                               

Milestone Hispanic-American Women Film Before We Say Goodbye Held Over at CCA May 27-30
Santa Fe, NM – The Center for Contemporary Arts (CCA) will hold over the milestone film about the life of Hispanic-American women, Before We Say Goodbye, with four more showings:  Friday May 27 through Monday May 30 at 4:30 p.m. each day.  Public response was strong for the showings last weekend.

Before We Say Goodbye is based on Albuquerque playwright Patricia Crespin’s play, We Are Hispanic-American Women… OK? The 2010 movie, filmed throughout New Mexico and on location in Mexico at the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe and at the pyramids of Teotihuacan, has received critical acclaim.

“Before We Say Goodbye is a special and heartfelt achievement not to be missed, an enriching experience that will touch movie audiences everywhere,” wrote Pete Hammond, of Boxoffice Magazine.

Lupita Gonzales of the Las Vegas Optic wrote:  “The recent showing of Before We Say Goodbye at Ilfeld Auditorium drew huge crowds at both showings.  Although there have been many literary forays (novels, plays, etc.) presented under the general rubric of Hispano issues, I don't know that I have been so moved by a presentation as I was by Paul Davids' film since I first read Bless Me, Ultima many years ago.  I suppose that Milagro Beanfield War runs a close third.  Why?  In a word, authenticity. The film provides all good elements of a cohesive narrative - believable characterization, conflict on many levels, complication, exposition, believable denouement (resolution) and good acting.”

Crespin said: “It’s wonderful to see my play come to life as a film.  While it celebrates Hispanic culture, it’s also a story about family that everyone can relate to. This story is about four generations of Hispanic women who struggle with the news that the patriarch of the family will soon pass away. It shows how each woman’s strength comes out in a time of crisis, and how faith can bring you miracles even if you don’t believe in them. It’s also a story about perseverance and overcoming obstacles.”  Crespin, who is co-writer / co-producer of the film, received her MFA in dramatic writing at the University of New Mexico.

Before We Say Goodbye is Paul Davids’ second film that is a New Mexico story – the first one was the Showtime original movie Roswell, a Golden Globe nominee for Best Motion Picture for Television that starred Kyle MacLachlan, Martin Sheen and Dwight Yoakam.  He produced and co-wrote Roswell after serving as production coordinator of the animated TV series The Transformers for Marvel Productions and co-writing six Star Wars sequel books for Lucasfilm with his wife, Hollace Davids.

Juanita Sena-Shannon, an accomplished Santa Fe stage and film actress, plays the lead character of Ramona Garcia in Before We Say Goodbye. In 2010, Sena-Shannon starred in Bless Me Ultima, Vortex Theatre’s stage production based on Rodolfo Anaya’s world renowned best-selling novel.  Bless Me Ultima toured statewide in 2010.

Rebekah Del Rio, famous for her role as a Latina singer in David Lynch’s film Mulholland Drive, contributed the title song to Before We Say Goodbye.  She is currently starring in the musical stage production Too Caliente to Handle at Teatro Zinzanni in San Francisco.
After Patricia Crespin’s stage play was performed in both Las Vegas and Santa Fe, Paul Davids saw a Nat Gold production of We Are Hispanic Women….OK? at a New Mexico theater conference in Farmington in 2007, and he immediately approached Crespin about developing her play as a film.
“I fell in love with the story,” Davids said. “It’s sometimes funny, sometimes sad but always with perceptive and penetrating dialogue. I could identify with the plight of each and every character.  And for me, choosing a story where the main character is a Hispanic-American Catholic grandmother who devoutly believes in the Virgin of Guadalupe – well, that was a major change of career path from the types of films I had been producing.  It is gratifying to please audiences by telling a straightforward, human story using authentic characters who make you laugh and cry.”