“La Leyenda Negra” is heading to HBO. A press release confirmed that the cabler acquired North American rights to Patricia Vidal Delgado’s story of a teen immigrant making her way in a new high school. The film will premiere on HBO Latino December 4 and will subsequently be available to stream on HBO Max.
Written and directed by Delgado, “La Leyenda Negra” sees Aleteia (Monica Betancourt) transferring to a high school in Compton. “As an El Salvadorian immigrant who has grown up in the United States, Aleteia has made underground activism her foundation for making her voice heard, but everything is thrown into jeopardy when her temporary protection status is compromised and her future becomes uncertain,” per the pic’s synopsis. “She unexpectedly befriends Rosarito (Kailei Lopez), a popular girl who is tired of her vapid clique and drawn to Aleteia’s resilience, much to queen bee Monica’s (Irlanda Moreno) annoyance. As the girls grow closer, Aleteia becomes more determined than ever to fight for her right to stay in the home she has always known.”
“La Leyenda Negra” made its debut at Sundance this year.
“We’re thrilled that our film has found a home with HBO and look forward to sharing our work with a wide audience in the US,” Delgado said. “We feel that the release of the film is especially timely since, this past September, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court ruling that had blocked the administration from phasing out Temporary Protected Status, known as TPS, for immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Sudan. Taking into account October’s developments in the US Supreme Court, immigrant rights have never been so imperiled in recent memory.”
“A major accomplishment of this piece are the performances pulled from non-actors by Patricia,” added executive producer Julianna Politsky. “The leads were actual students from Compton HS drawing from their personal experiences in the Latinx community. She described the film as “a timely coming of age piece that supports female-driven, Latinx, LGBTQIA stories and voices.”
Delgado previously directed and produced shorts including “Ico,” “Isa,” and “Bué Sabi.”
Check out the trailer for “La Leyenda Negra” below.
