Bella Comes to DVD
Eduardo Verastegui Stars in Top-Rated Tale
By Aaron Glickman
Bella received a 96 percent rating from Rotten Tomatoes, one of the largest film review web communities in the world. The Wall Street Journal said Bella was “the biggest surprise of the Year” because it generated the largest box office results of every film released in 2007 in its category. This is a big surprise in light of the fact that the filmmakers financed the production and distribution of the film themselves after being snubbed by the major Hollywood studios.
Bella was also one of the most honored films of the year – winning the highly-coveted “Peoples Choice Award” at the Toronto International Film Festival, a distinction that puts it in the company of such Oscar-winning films as Chariots of Fire, American Beauty, Life is Beautiful, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hotel Rwanda. Since Toronto, the Bella team has been honored at the Whitehouse, the Mexican Embassy and they won Best Picture and Best Actor at the 2008 Movie Guide Awards. In addition, the Smithsonian Institute presented Bella’sfilmmakers with the prestigious “Legacy Award” at its annual gala. The Legacy Awards honor role models who have made a significant impact on American culture and society through their art.
“Bella is a masterpiece and it will be in the Smithsonian’s archives along with the hope diamond, the star spangled banner and the ruby slippers,” said Henry Munoz, the Chairman of the Smithsonian Latino Center.
Since its debut, Bella has touched the lives of audiences across the country, but it has also enchanted critics and has been declared “A film that will stay with you forever” (NBC-Miami), “Warm, sweet and funny” (Roger Ebert) and “the warmest family drama I’ve seen in years” (Film Journal).
Fans of the film have been the key to its success including Grammy and Emmy award winning singer-songwriter Tony Bennett, who hailed Bella as “The best movie of the year, a perfect film, a masterpiece,” and entertainer Rosie O’Donnell chose Bella as her top film of 2007 saying, “I love this film. It is a beautiful movie.” When Edward James Olmos chose Bella to open the LA Latino International Film Festival out of the thousands of films produced this year he said, “It is one of the most impressive landmark films to open our festival in 10 years… a film people have to see, it really captures the heart and makes you think. It is one of the best films to come out in a long time.”
Bella, one of the most loved and critically-acclaimed films of the year, comes to DVD this May from LIONSGATE®. Inspired by a true story, Bella is a powerful and moving tale about how one moment can change your life forever. An international soccer star (Verástegui) is on his way to sign a multi-million dollar contract when something happens that brings his career to an abrupt end. A beautiful waitress (Blanchard), struggling to make it in New York City, discovers something about herself that she’s unprepared for. In one irreversible moment, their lives are turned upside down…until a simple gesture of kindness brings them both together, turning an ordinary day into an unforgettable experience. The DVD features over 50 minutes of special features including multi-part “behind-the-scenes” featurettes examining the development of the film, its search for distribution and its honors, director commentary, music videos plus the trailers and TV spots for the film and will be released May 6, 2008.
Metanoia Films financed and produced Bella on their own after Hollywood studios rejected their vision. Metanoia’s mission is to “make movies that matter and have the potential to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives” and it appears they made some money at the same time. Bella marks the feature directorial debut for Alejandro Monteverde, who also wrote its original screenplay. Starring Mexican superstar Eduardo Verastegui , who the LA Times called “the Leonardo DeCaprio of Mexico”, and Emmy award winning actress Tammy Blanchard (The Good Shepherd), Bella is a powerful film that makes people laugh, cry and think about what really matters. Bella also features Manuel Perez, Angelica Aragon, Jaime Terelli and Ali Landry. Bella was produced by Sean Wolfington, Eduardo Verastegui, Leo Severino, Alejandro Monteverde, Denise Pinckley and executive produced by J. Eustace Wolfington, Marcy Wolfington, Ana Wolfington and Stephen McEveety. The film was financed by producers Eustace and Sean Wolfington. After seeing the film, Steve McEveety (Braveheart, We Were Soldiers, Passion of the Christ) signed on as an Executive Producer to help market the film. Metanoia Films has a number of projects in development financed through a recently developed film fund.
Related Websites:
www.BellaTheMovie.com
www.BellaNews.com
More about Bella on SocialMiami:
Bella Movie Producer Sean Wolfington
Smithsonian Honors Bella
Faces and Places
