INTERVIEW: SXSW winner ‘Garden Left Behind’ opens virtually
Photo: Carlie Guevara stars as Tina in The Garden Left Behind. Photo courtesy of Cinema Tropical / Provided with permission.
The Garden Left Behind, the new movie from director Flavio Alves, has garnered critical acclaim on the festival circuit, and now it is picking up plaudits from audience members across the United States. The feature, which was recently released virtually by Uncork’d Entertainment and Dark Star Pictures, tells the story of Tina (Carlie Guevara), a young Mexican trans woman who navigates life with her grandmother (Miriam Cruz) and friends in the Bronx.
The feature, which also stars Michael Madsen and Ed Asner, not only showcases the relationship between Tina and her grandmother, but also how the protagonist finds solace and belonging at a local trans advocacy group. This proves to be a safe place for her to talk about the violent threats she has faced and the difficulties of her immigration status. There are many questions circulating Tina’s life, but throughout it all she tries to continue her journey toward acceptance.
The Garden Left Behind is the debut feature from Alves, who co-wrote the script with John Rotondo. They were inspired to tell Tina’s story after talking to many members of the trans community. “This film was just like a documentary,” Alves said in a recent phone interview. “We engaged a lot in research, and we spent a lot of time with members of the trans community to make sure we got it right. So we brought a lot of them to the table to be with us in the process of putting this story together. Those testimonies helped us to shape the story of Tina, the main character, and that’s what inspired us, those testimonies.”
Casting the film did not involve Alves and his casting director putting out an open call for actors. Instead, they sent messages to trans organizations and trans advocacy groups, and through these connections, the team was able to gather a community of actors — more than 200 trans men and trans women who auditioned by reading a few pages of the screenplay. Guevara appeared on the last day.
“Carlie came on the last day of our auditions, and she read a few lines,” Alves said. “And at that point, I knew in my head, OK, I found my Tina.”
Tina’s story plays out in the Bronx, which Alves said is an important part of the movie. He wanted to film in the borough to give the feature an authentic setting, and he wanted to make sure that the protagonist’s Mexican heritage and immigration status became important facets of the story.
“Actually when I was making this film I was talking to John,” he remembers. “Like, John, let’s look for something unique about the story. Let’s look for something that we haven’t seen yet. If you want to change hearts and minds, you have to present Tina as a human, and the best way to do it is to have them present the story with family members because most stories concentrate on the transitioning itself. We thought having the grandma would make Tina into a human character, and the whole idea is to present Tina as the girl sitting on the bus next door. Anyone can relate to that story.”
This relatability was important to Alves, and he felt that having Cruz’s character in the film, in particular showing her perspective when Tina transitions, was an important one for the audience to see. The grandmother has many questions for Tina and her friends, and by the end, there are glimmers of acceptance and respect for Tina’s gender identity. However, Alves’ film also deals openly and devastatingly with the issue of violence against the trans community, and this aspect of the story hovers over the proceedings and changes the trajectory of the story.
“When you make a film, you never know,” Alves said about the positive reactions to The Garden Left Behind, which won SXSW’s Audience Award and was crowd-sourced through eBay. “Sometimes you think this film is a great film, people will love it, and sometimes it doesn’t work that way. You never know. As a filmmaker, I’m going to tell a story. I’m not going to think how people or film critics will take the film, and my job as a storyteller is to tell the best possible story. Of course, my hope is that film critics will write a great review, which is happening now, so we are very happy. But I don’t have that in mind when I’m making a film.”
Most audience members and critics have agreed that Alves has crafted a “great film.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Garden Left Behind, directed and co-written by Flavio Alves, is now available virtually from Uncork’d Entertainment and Dark Star Pictures. Click here for more information.
