Rita Moreno reina and Sundance con su documental “Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It”

The Angels. Rita Moreno was today the queen of the Sundance Film Festival, the most important event in independent cinema, with ‘Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It’, a documentary about the lights and shadows of the Latin legend’s life directed the Puerto Rican Mariem Pérez Riera.

Moreno, who is one of only 16 people in history with an “EGOT” (winners of at least one Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony), today took part in the premiere of this documentary which, like the rest , Sundance is programming this year, it was virtual because of the pandemic.

“I had to think about it when Brent Miller (one of the producers of the documentary) came up with this idea”, He confessed in the discussion after the ‘premiere’.

But once I decided to do it, the next thing I made a commitment to myself was to be as honest as possible. That was the intention, that was the goal. Sometimes it was very difficult to be as candid as I planned, but I remember thinking, “Whatever questions they are, I have to answer them as best I can.” And that meant I had to be honest “, he detailed.

Pérez Riera, for his part, emphasized that in this film they did not only want to portray Moreno’s public face.

“We wanted to show people. It was very important to us that he opened up to us. And our way of doing it was through a ‘cinéma verité’ style “he pointed.

In this sense, the filmmaker emphasized that Moreno sometimes appears in the film without make-up, drives a car, returns home after a long day at work or prepares breakfast.

“We wanted to show a woman that she is a woman first and then a star”, he assured.

Survive in Hollywood

From her origins in Puerto Rico to her dramatic triumph in show business to her arrival in New York as a child, “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It” explores the Oscar-winning successes for “West Side Story” (1961 ), but also the darkest and darkest corners of his life.

For example, Moreno talks about the sexual harassment she experienced as a young man in the film industry and also tells how her agent in Hollywood raped her.

The road to fame was full of obstacles and dangers for Moreno as a woman and also as a Latina, as she had to fight against racist prejudice and some studies that offered her stupid roles and offensive stereotypes.

“I hope that all people who are victims of discrimination and prejudice because of their race or gender (…) find this film inspiring”said Pérez Riera.

But the documentary, which Moreno’s turbulent romance with, doesn’t forget Marlon Brando nor his marriage not as idyllic as it seemed Leonard GordonHe also looks with humor and a lot of sympathy towards an absolutely brilliant career, he also draws an artist full of vitality who is about to turn 90, and similarly remembers her facet as an activist through the decades.

The stars are not lacking in this tribute to Moreno.

Eva Longoria, Morgan Freeman, Gloria Estefan, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Norman Lear, Whoopi Goldberg, Héctor Elizondo The Justina machado son solo algunas de las voces from “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It”.

And from what he said with a smile today, Moreno is healthy for a while.

“I’m 89 years old, I’m still here, my brain is still working (…), I have a documentary about my life, I have a new version of ‘West Side Story’ (directed by Steven Spielberg and comes in December off) … ”, mention.

“Right now I am amazing, I am one of the coolest 89 year olds I know. I have a cap that I should have worn today that says, ‘Until now I have never been as old as now. And I love it “he joked.