Recently at the Black Widow World Premiere Fan Event in Hollywood, two award-winning Latino filmmakers looked extremely excited about one of the most anticipated films of the year, Black Widow, was finally premiered on the big screen. Victoria Alonso and Gabriel Beristain had reason to be.
Argentinian-born Executive VP of Film Production at Marvel Studios Alonso is one of five executive producers who pulled all the financial resources needed to make the $200 million action movie.
As the cinematographer, Mexico City native Beristain is responsible for the look and feel of the flick.
Delayed for more than a year due to the pandemic, Black Widow was shown exclusively for fans on a big screen on June 29. Alonso said that “there’s something really special about going to the movies,” while being interviewed on one of the first in-person red carpets to be held in Hollywood right after the pandemic restrictions were lifted. Beristain described attending an actual Hollywood premiere as “unbelievable.”
Black Widow opens in theaters nationwide on July 9. Scarlett Johansson is back as ex-Russian spy Natasha Romanoff in her quests between the films Civil War and Infinity War. Her co-stars are Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, William Hurt, Ray Winstone and Rachel Weisz. The Marvel Studios film is directed by Australian filmmaker Cate Shortland, who has experience with flicks about strong women.
Alonso and Beristain come with much experience to the Avengers franchise, so much that they both crossed paths on all three Iron Man installments and two Thor sequels.
Alonso was born in Buenos Aires but her aspirations to be part of Hollywood led her to immigrate to New York in her late teens and later to Los Angeles. Her early credits include visual effects in Cats & Dogs, Big Fish and her first superhero movie in 2008, Iron Man, which she also co-produced. She became executive vice president of visual effects and postproduction at Marvel in 2005 and was later promoted to executive vice president of film production. The Argentinian has worked as a producer or executive producer in pretty much every other Avenger and Marvel superhero film, more than 20, including Captain America, Ant-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Dr. Strange, Black Panther, Captain Marvel and Spider-Man, among others.
Avengers: Endgame won Alonso a Hollywood Film Award in 2019. She is also the recipient of the Harold Lloyd Award for her achievements in visual effects.
Last year, Alonso received the Filmmaker’s Award from the Motion Picture Sound Editors during the 67th annual edition of the Golden Reel Awards.
For his part, Beristain initially studied engineering at Mexico City’s Instituto Politécnico Nacional but later pursued a master’s degree in film. After graduating he made documentaries on social issues and launched a commercials production company. In 1977 he decided to move to Italy and later to England to expand his filmmaking career.
Organically, his documentary work turned him into a cinematographer. He eventually enrolled at the National Film + Television School in London, where he won a student competition sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1982, and then returned to his native Mexico. He worked in the Colombian film Carne de Tu Carne and then decided to go back to England, where he spent over a decade. “I was also shooting multi-million dollar commercials, which was glamorous work,” recalls Beristain in his biography.
At the suggestion of Oscar-nominated cinematographer Allen Daviau of E.T and The Color Purple fame, the Mexican filmmaker eventually relocated to Los Angeles in 1991. “He said I could be part of the future of the industry in America, because of my understanding of the Anglo and Hispanic cultures,” recalls Beristain.
The cinematographer film credits include the Mexican feature El Cometa, which earned him a nomination to the Silver Ariel, and Princess Ka’iulani.
In Hollywood, he worked as part of the camera and electrical department in nearly 20 features that included superhero movies like The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor: Ragnarok.
His Hollywood cinematographer credits include the films Blood In, Blood Out, Blade II and Blade: Trinity and Guillermo Del Toro’s horror series The Strain.
Black Widow is the first Marvel superhero film in which Beristain works as director of photography.
Featured Photo: Victoria Alonso (Credit: Marvel Cinematic Universe); Gabriel Beristain (Credit: Self)