Eva Mendes told a reporter, not so long ago, “…I feel I’ll take on the responsibility of showing the world a whole different kind of Latin woman.” If that includes showing the world a beautiful woman who is not only an actress, a model, and a saleswoman, but an auteur in her own right, Eva’s well on her way.
It’s not surprising, really. In her relatively short and extremely; busy career, Mendes has already worked with an amazing number of equally amazing directors–Anton Fuqua, John Singleton, Werner Herzog, and of course Robert Rodriguez. Now we see that some of that has rubbed off a bit; she’s written and directed her first short film, a cute little romantic comedy called California Romanza, which premiered at the L.A. Shorts Film Festival this week.
This isn’t an amateur affair at any level. California Romanza stars Christina Ricci and Kathy Najimy. And whether it wins, places, or show at the L.A. Shorts Fest, it should be more than enough to impress her fans and film folks. Hopefully there will be more in the future.
This has been a pretty decent year for Mendes, after a few too many bad patches like Ghost Rider and The Spirit. She made a cameo in Fast Five, secured some serious sponsorships with cosmetics and clothing companies, and her long-delayed romantic drama Last Night finally saw the light of day at Tribeca and a variety of other film festivals. Though it opened to mixed reviews (about 50/50, actually), Mendes’ performance was often cited as being surprisingly subtle and sophisticated–words, she hasn’t heard applied to her performances all that often. She’s even got a second film scheduled for this year, the admittedly intriguing See If I Care, previously called Ansiedad, where Mendes plays the surprising role of a mother whose daughter (played by Cierra Ramirez, of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody engineers her own coming-of-age tale. It’s from a first-time screenwriter Hiram Martinez, and it’s sure to cast Eva in yet another new light. Clearly, she likes to keep people guessing…in a good way. And California Romanza is a very good guess.
Check out the fascinating playlist at L.A. Shorts Fest, and see a bunch of screen captures from California Romanza at Christina Ricci’s own oddly wonderful website, here.
