Filmmaker debuts ‘Donna Miracle'

HIDALGO— Rio Grande Valley students roared with cheers Thursday in State Farm Arena as they became one of the first local audiences to see the triumph of the Donna High School Redskins 1961 state championship win on the big screen.

Producer and director Frank Aragon was drawn to the story of the Donna football players when he was in the Valley working with another film and received a Facebook message telling about it, he said. Inspired by the story of the players and coaches, Aragon created the movie (filmed in Weslaco) in less than a year.

The documentary intersperses interviews with the players and their family members with original footage of the team playing and re-created scenes to tell the story of the Valley’s only state champs.

It recalls the small-town team overcoming racial tensions of the time, showing interviews with players who told of being called IBM’s "for itty-bitty Mexicans" and being asked "Can Mexicans play football?"

Aragon said the next step is to hit the road with various film festivals to try to raise money to parlay the documentary into a feature film.

"We’re trying to build a support base for the story," he said.

Several California-based actors flew Thursday to the Valley to help promote the film. Friends of Aragon and possible players in a future movie, Esai Morales, Steven Bauer and Zulay Henao joined Aragon and Hidalgo County Judge Rudolfo "Rudy" Gonzalez, who helped support the project, to address the audiences.

"We came down here to support the dream of making this film," said Bauer, an actor who has been in Traffic, Breaking Bad and Scarface. "(This story) lives on in these communities."

Morales, an actor whose credits include 24, Vanished and NYPD Blue, told the students not to give up on Hollywood dreams as he relayed a story of being 13 and watching Al Pacino speak.

"I was in an audience myself and I would watch people come in who were in the industry," he said. "I would say ‘Maybe I can do that.’"

Gonzalez said he met Aragon through his son, a PSJA North graduate and aspiring actor. When the two began discussing the Donna film, the judge was eager to be involved.

"A success story like this is important to the Valley," he said.

Viewers who turned out to an evening VIP dinner with the actors and viewing of the show at Edinburg’s Doctors’ Hospital at Renaissance agreed.

“I just wanted to see it all come together to see how they brought the 1961 state champs to life,” said Belinda Ruiz, 50, a Donna resident.

Money raised from the $500-per-person dinner, $25 evening film tickets and sponsorships by various businesses would help pay back money already spent on filming, Aragon said.

Some confusion surrounded which actors would be able to help promote the event as it was being planned. Posters and $1,000-per-couple tickets advertised a celebrity reception with the names and photos of Robert Duvall, Marisa Tomei and Lou Diamond Phillips—actors who did not end up attending the dinner.

Duvall’s official Facebook page—maintained by representatives of The Robert Duvall Children’s Fund—posted a statement Jan. 24 linking to a Fox Rio 2 story on the film.

"Unfortunately, there are times when celebrity names are used without their consent or knowledge," the page states. "While this news report claims otherwise, Robert Duvall would like to clarify that he is not involved with this project, was not invited to attend the fundraiser, and is not expected to attend."

Aragon said he had reached out to Duvall hoping he would be interested in the role of Bennie La Prade, one of the team’s coaches, for the feature film, but had been unable to arrange a meeting.

It remained unclear who was responsible for including the celebrities’ names and photos on the posters.

"I never authorized the use of their names publicly," Aragon said. "We expressed offers to them, but it wasn’t set in stone."

Aragon blamed the “printing error” on promoters in the Valley, but said he didn’t know exactly who they were. Gonzalez, who worked on much Valley publicity with promoter Elsa Menchaca, said he had not created the materials that were distributed.

"I wasn’t involved, that was all Frank," Gonzalez said. "I don’t own a printer."

But graphic designers at CopyPlus!, which printed the posters, said Gonzalez was the exclusive contact for creating those with the celebrity photos in late 2011.

Aragon called the incident with the celebrity photos "a big mistake,” but said it had been cleared up quickly.

"This was never about celebrities," he said. "It’s about the miracle of Donna."

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Elizabeth Findell covers Pharr, San Juan, Alamo, the Mid-Valley and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at efindell@themonitor.com or (956) 683-4428. Amy Nichol Smith contributed to this report.