Filmmakerturnsto hispastfornewmovie
A LONDON filmmaker, set to direct an autobiographical film about a young baseball player who finds refuge from his abusive stepfather by studying for his barmitzvah, has attracted stars from Sex and the City and The Wire to appear in his first feature film.
Jessequinones,whogrewupinmiami beforemovingtolondon,wrotethefilm about his own teenage experiences, and those of his brother David.
Calloused Hands will star David Eigenberg,bestknownforplaying Stevebrady, husbandof Sex and the City’s Miranda.he will be playing a rabbi. It will also feature The Wire’s Andre Royo, and Bafta-nominated Natalie Press, as the boy’s parents.
The 30-year-old filmmaker, who has lived in London for 11 years, describes himself as “of Afro-cuban-irish-jewish heritage.”
He said: “The story is 95 per cent autobiographical, about a period in my life wheniwas12.mymumisjewish,andshe had an African- American boyfriend at that time. He introduced us to baseball, we fell in love with that, and he would practise with us, dreaming of us becoming baseball stars.
“But he was a violent drunk and drug addict. He put us through hell. I wanted to capture that one year and tell an inspirational story about a challenging period for a young boy who came through the other side.”
It was his Irish Jewish grandfather who introduced the young Jesse to his heritage. “He insisted my brother and I had a barmitzvah, set us up with a rabbi. It was one of the most special experiences I have ever had. I had had no Jewish life at all until then. My mum was quite rebellious, she married my black Cuban father, she was never observant; we had no notion of being Jewish.
“Now I identify myself very much as Jewish, and it was important for me to castjewishactorslikedavideigenbergas the rabbi and Natalie Press as the mother. My grandfather would turn in his grave if the a c t r e s s p l a y i n g the mother was not J e w i s h . The film is in his hono u r a n d the impact he had on my life.” The script has been short-listed for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab and selected for the BBC Writers’ Room. Mr Quinones is keen to show another side of Miami when he films this summer.
“Miami films are always glossy, but I want to capture a sense of where I grew up where it was not glossy at all. We are shooting in the synagogue where I had mybarmitzvah,inbalharbour.iamreally hoping my rabbi will work with Dave Eigenberg to make sure the Hebrew is right, and he gets a real sense of being a rabbi.”