SAN ANTONIO – After playing the long game for a wide release, 2023 South By Southwest Film Festival award winner “The Long Game” will be in theaters nationwide next month.
“It’s a true underdog story for anyone who feels excluded or anybody who feels like they’re up against overwhelming odds,” director Julio Quintana told us on the red carpet at the film’s world premiere at the Paramount Theatre in Austin last March.
“The Long Game” is inspired by the book “Mustang Miracle” by Humberto G. Garcia. It’s based on the true story of five young Mexican American caddies who worked at an all-white country club in segregated Del Rio back in the 1950s. They couldn’t play at the country club, so the boys built their own golf course in the South Texas brush country. With little experience and even fewer resources, they went on to compete and win the 1957 Texas State High School Golf Championship.
The film stars Jay Hernandez and native Texan Dennis Quaid, with performances by San Antonio’s own Paulina Chávez, Cheech Marin and Oscar Nuñez. It’s a reunion for Quintana and Quaid after the success of their first film together, Netflix’s true-story sports drama “Blue Miracle.”
“I think it’s told in a very authentic way,” Quaid said. “I could not be more proud of ‘The Long Game’ and place it in the same vein as ‘The Rookie’ and ‘Breaking Away.’”
Chávez said she relates to her character, Daniela Torres.
“She knows what she wants and she’s not going to let any man get in the way of that. I very much base her off the women in my life,” Chávez said.
“The Long Game” won last year’s Narrative Spotlight Audience Award at SXSW. Look for this movie in theaters nationwide on Apr. 12.
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