“Mija,” a music documentary from director Isabel Castro, has secured distribution and a potential narrative adaptation. Worldwide rights to the Sundance 2022 title have been nabbed by Disney Original Documentary, while FX — which is owned by the Walt Disney Company — has acquired the rights to develop scripted content based on the doc. Variety broke the news.
Castro’s first feature, “Mija” “is about Doris Muñoz, a young music manager who supports her undocumented and deported family by discovering young music talent,” the filmmaker told Women and Hollywood. “When she gets news that forces her to reconsider her career, she discovers Jacks Haupt – another daughter of immigrants for whom ‘making it’ isn’t just a dream: it’s a necessity.”
“I was particularly interested in telling this kind of story from the perspective of young protagonists,” Castro shared with us. “As a teenager, I felt like there was a shortage of stories about what it meant to come of age as an immigrant or as the child of immigrants in the United States. I wanted to tell the kind of story I craved myself, as a Mexican immigrant, when I was figuring out my identity, family, and community.”
“Mija” is now screening at True/False Film Festival and has upcoming dates at Miami Film Festival and CPH: DOX. It will be released in theaters later this year before streaming on Disney+.
Tabs Breese and Yesenia Tlahuel produced the doc, and the executive producers include Jenny Raskin, Lauren Haber, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Marni E.J. Grossman, and Rahdi Taylor.
“We are so excited to join the Disney family,” said Castro. “We share a common belief that music can be a conduit for change, and I hope that through this music documentary, we can show unexpected, emotionally universal facets of the immigration experience.”
“‘Mija’ beautifully captures a first-generation story and what it means for that to be a part of your identity — no matter where you’re from,” added Marjon Javadi, VP of Disney Original Documentary. “Isabel and her team accomplished the rare feat of sharing a multidimensional immigration story, utilizing music as a universal language of expression. We’re so proud to present this as a Disney Original Documentary to our global audiences on Disney Plus.”
Castro’s previous credits include doc short “USA v Scott” and docuseries “Pandemic,” both of which received Emmy nominations. Her doc project “Crossing Over” won a GLAAD Media Award. She has worked as a producer at “The Marshall Project,” “VICE,” and “VICE News Tonight,” and served as a producer, cinematographer, and multimedia journalist at The New York Times.
