Cesar Arredondo
Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It, the documentary that looks at the career of the legendary actress and singer from her humble beginnings in her Native Puerto Rico to her success on Broadway and in Hollywood, will have its world debut at the Sundance Film Festival this month.
Directed by Mariem Pérez Riera (Lovesickness, Chamacas), the doc follows Moreno’s prolific, decades-long career of the 89-year-old actress and singer, using different styles, elements, and media. It utilizes vérité footage of Moreno today, archival footage of her performances and appearances, childhood reenactments, animation, and new interviews. It also features interviews with actors, filmmakers, and singers with whom Moreno has worked, like Morgan Freeman, Hector Elizondo, Eva Longoria, Whoopi Goldberg, Justina Machado, Gloria Estefan, and Karen Olivo.
“As a filmmaker, woman, and Puerto Rican, I am proud to have the opportunity to tell Rita’s story,” says Pérez Riera. “Her many victories in the face of prejudice are an inspiration to me.” Adds the director, “Hopefully, this film will give strength to the women all over the world, who today face a similar fight towards equality.”
PBS CONNECTION
The documentary is a production of American Masters Pictures and Norman Lear’s Act III Productions in association with Artemis Rising Foundation and Maramara Films. American Masters Pictures is a theatrical imprint for documentaries co-produced by PBS’s American Masters.
Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It will screen virtually at Sundance as part of the U.S. Documentary Competition on January 29 at noon and will have a second screening on January 31. Also as part of the fest, it will screen at the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico and in U.S. cities like Atlanta, Key West, New Orleans, San Francisco, and Tucson.
“When I learned from my producing partner Brent Miller that a film had not yet been made on Rita Moreno, I couldn’t believe it and suggested we make it together,” says executive producer Norman Lear. “There’s no woman more deserving of the American Masters stamp. Her talent, her activism, her life – all worthy of an audience. And her story, an inspiration to so many, is one that should live on forever.” Both Miller, Pérez Riera and Ilia J. Vélez Dávila are producers on the documentary.
MAKING HISTORY
Born in the small town of Humacao, Puerto Rico in 1931, Moreno was the first Latina actress to win an Academy Award. She earned it for her role as Anita in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical West Side Story in 1962. Despite such an accomplishment, Moreno kept on getting mainly stereotypical ethnic roles.
Through persistence and hard work, Moreno remained relevant and went on to win other coveted prizes of the entertainment industry, including top awards in music, theatre, and television. She earned the Grammy for best recording for children with “The Electric Company” for the children’s TV show of the same title; a Tony for her performance in the play The Ritz; and two Primetime Emmy Awards for her acting in The Muppet Show and The Rockford Files—all awards in 16 years. As such, Moreno is one of only 16 EGOT artists, those who have won the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. She is the only actor of Latino descent in that distinguished group. Furthermore, she has won a Golden Globe and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
‘LA REINA’
For Lin-Manuel Miranda, another doc executive producer, Moreno is an icon and inspiration. “Rita is La Reina. Punto. Full stop,” says the Oscar nominee and Tony Award winner of Hamilton-fame. “Her life, talent, and career is a masterclass in the American dream. It is about time that she takes her rightful place amongst her peers on American Masters.”
In recognition of her long illustrious career, Moreno has received the Library of Congress Living Legends Award, Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, and Kennedy Center Honors Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award. And Two U.S. presidents have bestowed upon her some of the nation’s highest civilian and artistic honors—President George W. Bush presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom and President Barack Obama with the National Medal of the Arts.
More recently Moreno received the Online Film Critics Society Lifetime Achievement Award and the Peabody Career Achievement Award, both in 2019. Last year, she was co-marshall of the Rose Parade—along with actress Gina Torres and Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez.
STILL WORKING IN HER 8Os
The passage of time has never slowed down this actress and dancer whose first film work included a part in Singin’ in the Rain, Gene Kelly’s 1952 classic musical. Moreno’s movie and TV credits, according to trade website IMDB, lists over 160 roles, including the series Jane the Virgin, Bless This Mess, and One Day at a Time.
And she returns to the big screen in Steven Spielberg’s new cinematic version of West Side Story, the 1957 theatre musical whose first Hollywood adaptation won Moreno her Academy Award six decades ago.
“Rita Moreno has won every major award–the Peabody, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony–for good reason,” says Michael Kantor, another executive producer of the documentary, “She is not just an American Master, she is an American treasure.”
For festival tickets to the screenings of Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It visit https://tickets.festival.sundance.org/
For in-person screening tickets visit https://fpg.festival.sundance.org/live-events.
Featured Photo credit: Austin Hargrave