So, last night I went to the premiere of Bella at the Latino Film Festival with my friend Jen, her mom, and a friend of hers also named Jen. Now, I've already seen Bella once before. Back in April my Jen hosted a charity event where the producers screened the movie at the Tribeca Theater. So, while this was my second time seeing the movie, its one of a few on a very short list of movies I don't mind seeing again.
Since Jen worked with the producers of the film for the chairty event, she knew exactly who to reach out to in order for us to join the afterparty at Mantra. What a great time it was too. The actors in the movie are really great guys who have set themselves on a mission to start giving Latinos the credit they deserve in films. Instead of always portraying the stereotype (you know, the thief, the don juan/casanova heart-breaker, etc) they're making films that breathe life into portraying real Latino families and success stories.
In any case, there were a few other folks there not in the movie... like Rosie Perez! Since it was my birthday at the stroke of midnight, Jen had no shame in asking her to do a birthday photo with the birthday boy and she happily obliged.