Paloma Negra, one of Mexico’s most prominent production companies, founded by producer Cristina Velasco and distinguished directors Rigoberto Perezcano (“Carmin Tropical”) and Jorge Hernandez Aldana (“The Night Buffalo”), has boarded Michael Rowe’s “Last Weekend,” a topical cross-border child custody battle drama shot in Southern California and Mexico. The drama follows Adrian, an undocumented Mexican migrant worker in San Diego, who is finally reunited with his six-year-old daughter after a year-long custody battle. As he struggles to rebuild their bond and reconnect her with her cultural roots, he faces the added weight of a government that criminalizes and persecutes undocumented migrants.
I cried a lot during the shoot, so it worked on me anyway. There are some strong moments,” Rowe told Variety. While interiors were filmed in a Mexico City soundstage, they shot on locations where migrant workers actually live, above all in San Ysidro and Barrio Logan, two suburbs south of San Diego, said Rowe.
As they were shooting at the height of the ICE raids in the U.S., they had to tread carefully despite securing shooting permits. His cast of Mexican actors are led by Fernando Cuatle (“Heroic”) who plays the father opposite young newcomer Rose Peraza Benítez. Alejandra Cosío (“La casa azul”) and Víctor Oliveira (“Hernan”) round off the cast.
According to Rowe, he employed a very small crew and had a tightly scheduled shoot. They wrapped the entire production in just 17 days.
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