LAKE COUNTY >> There’s something beautiful about working with one’s hands, particularly vineyard work. Whether its capturing the cool, rocky volcanic soil or grape juice spill between your fingers, the job can make for one aesthetically pleasing image in cinema, local filmmaker Devin Negrete believes. But there’s something more captivating: the people who get the job done. Interested in the lives of the Latino immigrant community — who often work in vineyards, Negrete is set to work in yet another film based solely in Lake County.
The fictional narrative follows the life of a middle-aged man named Jose who works in the vineyards and is also a coyote (a person who smuggles Latin Americans across the US border). During one of his smuggles, he meets Martha and her daughter Zully and attempts to help them adjust to a new country after fleeing from a troubled past. Jose later finds himself caring for the young girl after her mother is deported.
“It started with me wanting to do a film about immigrant vineyard workers,” explained Negrete, who is half Mexican and half Caucasian. “Then it developed into the character of Jose and his story. I grew up around vineyards and that’s [a place] so beautiful to me. With about 80 percent of workers as immigrants, that’s almost poetic to me.”
After interacting all his life with Latinos in the field, he learned about the struggles many in the community has faced with immigration, race and personal finances. Nonetheless, he said, “these guys are some of the funniest, most hardworking people ever. Their stories matter.”
That’s essentially the goal of “Coyote”: depict real life struggles of the working class and how “they overcome these incredible challenges.”
And these are challenges many within Lake County have and are battling through, he said. His father’s story, perhaps at the root of his inspiration, lies among the many. Negrete’s father migrated to the US in the 1980s, taking the notorious, five-day desert route without food or money. After much time working in the vineyards and as a janitor in the county, he became an American citizen in 1992 and a respected engineer.
“He’s never not worked a single day in his life,” the 23-year-old filmmaker said of his father. “He’s the hardest working person I know.”
Tied with telling the story of a man faced with difficult decisions like Jose and Negrete’s father, “Coyote” offers a generous space to discuss representation artistically.
Negrete explained:
“There’s a lot of talk of underrepresentation in cinema and I think that Hispanics are very underrepresented. When I talk about this, people bring up, ‘Oh, what about Antonio Banderas? He’s one of the top highest paid actors.’ Well, that doesn’t translate to Hispanic stories being told cinematically. We hear stories of refugees from Syria moving to Europe, but we also have those stories right here. Why aren’t these stories being told?”
The Middletown High School graduate said his film has the potential to stir a conversation as it is “connected to our political climate currently” — with immigration as one of the underlying themes. Since the Trump administration’s controversial deportations and push for the border wall, Negrete said many more have taken to social media to argue for or against the president’s agenda.
“I think comments like, ‘Well, why don’t they just become citizens” comes from people that don’t really understand the topic,” he explained. “I want to change people’s perspective and show them the human being behind these news stories. That’s the most important thing to me. If I can show them that behind these news articles and Facebook posts there are human beings struggling to live that would be cool.”
But first and foremost, Negrete said, he’s an artist.
Making a film with a heavy storyline look aesthetically beautiful on screen requires a sharp eye — among other things. With experience in directing full, feature-length films (his first as a senior in Middletown High and a second titled, ‘Clearlake’) and as a native of Lake County, he knows exactly what he’s chasing after.
“Choosing where to film is very important to me. I am choosing based on aesthetic — looking for that agriculture feel,” the young filmmaker explained.
Known for its miles and miles of rich vineyards, Negrete has chosen Kelseyville as the main filming location, with Lakeport and Lower Lake in his target list. He also revealed that most of “Coyote” will be filmed in Spanish.
While also working on a separate film, about a woman leaving an abusive relationship, he expects to have the “Coyote” complete by June. Negrete said he is still looking to film some roles, including several extras.
To land a role in his film, send a message to the Lake County Film Society — a nonprofit organization Negrete started two years ago to help engage the community through cinema — on Facebook at Facebook.com/LakeCountyFilmSociety.
