VIDA NUEVA "Rough Cut Sample"

PLEASE NOTE*** The video submitted is a rough cut missing AI animations, b-roll footage, pictures, the remainder of the interview footage & other footage, color-grading, sound mixing, and music as well as subtitles. It represents about one third of the film. We’re anticipating the Final Cut to be a little over 90 minutes. We have a completion time frame of of 7/01/23-08/01/2023 which we are confident we will complete by then if not earlier.

VIDA NUEVA (New Life) is an intimate documentary film that beautifully captures the emotional, joyful, and sometimes challenging journey toward change and forgiveness. In this film, we learn firsthand about the profound impact and life-long effects of long-term incarceration, the power of family, and the beauty of healing.

In 1997 Maximo Reyes was sentenced to serve 30 years in prison. His children Max, Eliana, Christian, and Sebastian Reyes were left in limbo with no other choice but to try to live their lives without the presence of their father.

26 years later, Maximo Reyes was set to be released on 11/25/2022. His daughter, Eliana (38), an actor, producer, and blossoming filmmaker decided it was important to tell this story and show the effects of long-term incarceration and deportation on individuals and families.

She partnered with her eldest brother Max (40) to document the entire process from emotionally preparing to reunite with their 2 siblings Christian (37) and Sebastian (32) in NYC and then all traveling together to reunite in the Dominican Republic with their father for the first time over 26 years.

What we will see is that as Eliana and Max try to juggle their lives, and plan and coordinate the logistics for the trip, they are faced with not only an emotional resurfacing of trauma but also with the anxiety of reintegrating their father into their lives. Adding to that anxiety is the lack of information and uncertainty around when exactly their father would be released from the BOP to ICE and then deported to the Dominican Republic.

After several date changes and almost losing hope, on 12/23/22 they received confirmation that he would be released from the US Marshall and deported to DR on 1/3/2023.

Filled with excitement and nerves they book their flights for 1/24/23 where they meet up with their other two siblings and reunite all together with their father for the first time in almost 26 years.

The captured reunion is a vulnerable but powerful moment where we see the years of pain, manifest in tears, shock, love, and prayer as a new beginning unfolds before the viewer's eyes.

We get to hear from each sibling on how the long-term incarceration of their father affected their lives and what they are looking forward to the most with this new life that will now include their father. We also get to hear from their father Maximo Reyes, now a pastor, on what it was like for him to be imprisoned for so long, how he was treated in the prison system, and the powerful source that kept him alive and filled with hope that one day he would be reunited with his family again.

ARTISTIC APPROACH
My vision for the finished product is an innovative mixed-media film that not only tells us a story but transports you there.

FEELING: A film that is so vulnerable, raw, and real that it will invoke powerful feelings in the viewers and also inspire them to seek their own healing and forgiveness. Although all of the scenes are real raw moments, we did film it in a very cinematic kind of way so that it feels immersive and emotional.

INNOVATION: I have a passion for innovation so I decided to include an AI short story that will open the film to tell us about Maximo Reyes’s journey from DR to NYC to Prison and also using AI to bring old pictures to life. Additionally, we got creative with some fascinating drone footage and re-touched original pictures.

CINEMATOGRAPHY: We used great cameras to capture these moments.
RED Komodo
Canon R5C
Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8L
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L
Canon EF 35mm f/2
Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L
DJI Avata

MUSIC: My proudest artistic approach is that all of the music is original. We are creating an entire soundtrack featuring original songs written and performed by the siblings. This really adds a unique twist as their styles range from Hip-Hop to Reggeaton, Merengue, Acoustic Baladas, and R&B both in Spanish and in English, and are the most honest representation of the Afro-Latino experience. The song in the trailer is one of the original songs made for the film.

CREATIVE TEAM
Director- Eliana Reyes
Exec Producer- Maximo Reyes
Assistant Director-Lorena Jorge
Cinematographer & Editor-Chris McDuffie
Legal & Business Affairs Advisor- Glorimar Negron
Public Affairs Consultant- Anthony Reyes