Dead in the Sierra / Muerto en la Sierra
	In Stock, Ships Immediately!		DVD: $20.00

		This film hasn't been tagged yet.

Film Overview

Directed By: Warren Haack View Official Website	Release Date: 2007-09-19 Running Time: 0:30 Content Rating: PG (Parental Guidance)
Genres: Western >> Outlaws :: Action >> Western :: Drama >> Biography

Synopsis

The spectre of Joaquín Murieta still rides in the California countryside. Whoever approaches the legend of this bandit will feel the charismatic force of his gaze.” - Pablo Neruda

The California Gold Rush of 1849 occurred in the aftermath of the US-Mexican War, which annexed nearly half of Mexico to the United States. Amid the greed, suspicion, and fear of that era, many who lost land, family, and their futures fought back. Told from the Latino point of view, this is a story of two very different men, both named Joaquín, whose resistance fed the legend of outlaw and rebel Joaquín Murieta. Beautifully shot in 16mm black and white over three decades, the film sports a superb sound design by Academy Award-winner Richard Beggs (Apocalypse Now).

Cast

Joaquin Murieta: Carlos Barón | bio
Professor of Theatre at SF State Univ,
Director of Multicultural Theatre in San Francisco
Poet, Author and Screenwriter

Crew

Director: Warren Haack | bio
Warren Haack, internationally known for his ground breaking "Selective Service System", has been making award winning documentary films for over 30 years. This is his first narrative work.

Accolades

Press Reviews

- Jim Kitses, Author – Horizons West | show/hide snippet
“I recently completed a study of major directors of the American Western from John Ford to Clint Eastwood. Many great films have been made within this tradition. As I wrote about them, however, I could not but also feel the limitations of this dominant genre’s perspective in terms of our own era.
“Dead In The Sierra: Legend Of Two Joaquins” is an example of independent film par excellence. Challenging Hollywood norms of history and realism, the film marries multiple time periods and creates them in rich and intimate detail. It insists on a multi-layered dramatic approach to create complexity of character as well.”
-- Joseph McBride, author of SEARCHING FOR JOHN FORD | show/hide snippet
In this epic short feature drawn from California history and myth, Warren Haack movingly analyzes the uneasy juncture between
legend and fact in the Old West. His film's adventurous
inquiry into the meaning of history is conveyed
through a multilayered style that is sophisticated and eloquent,
matching the enigmatic nature of its central
characters. What a triumph for Haack is this fresh
and lovingly crafted revitalization of a genre that was
dormant during much of the film's long gestation. It
was worth the wait.