Paco Cabeza's "Carne de Neon" to Debut at the Tribeca Film Festival

> on January 20, 2011 in Madrid, Spain. (2011 Getty Images)

“Carne de Neon" ("Neon Flesh"), a blood-filled, dark, and comedic film by Spanish director Paco Cabezas, will make its North American debut in this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, which kicks off this Wednesday, April 20, in various theaters in lower Manhattan.

Taking the viewers into the world of Ricky —a young hustler turned pimp who opens up a brothel as a tribute to his mother, recently released from prison— Cabezas attempts to humanize those shunned from society.

Talking of his character Ricky, Cabezas told Fox News Latino, “he is a criminal but he has a heart. I wanted to expose those who have to worry about surviving on a daily basis .... People who worry about what they will eat and how they will live.”

Cabezas, a native of Seville, Spain, says his upbringing highly influenced the movie. The director badly desired to give a voice to those who the world portrays as “black or white” with nothing in between.

“The characters are people who I grew up with,” said Cabezas. “It’s inspired by the neighborhood of Los Pajaritos, a place in Seville which I had to cross and although I would get robbed often, usually for a pair of sunglasses, I still had a great time there.”

Joining Cabezas in the production of “Carne de Neon,” is veteran actress Angela Molina, known for her roles with award-winning directors such as Pedro Almodóvar and Luis Buñuel. Cabezas said Molina brought a sense of positive energy to the film that he loved.

“Angela was very enthusiastic with the script and the movie in general,” Cabezas said. “This was a different role for her, since she had never done a comedy before.”

The self-taught director says that never in a million years did he imagine he would find himself traveling back and forth from Los Angeles to New York City.

Now that his film made it to Robert De Niro’s Tribeca Film Festival, he is certainly “flying in the clouds.”

“I used to work in a video store, where I learned a lot about film and learned to value the viewers,” Cabezas recalls. “I do this for them, not for the critics, because when the public comes to see your films their time is a gift. I want to give them something for their soul to take with them.”

“I would have never imagined having this much luck. I never had money to go to college and I always remember telling my mom to buy me a video camera but she never had the cash,” he added.

Cabezas plans to keep telling intriguing stories through films.

“I have so many things to tell,” he said. “Cinema has to be intense… fun… like a roller coaster.”

You can reach Alexandra Gratereaux at: Alexandra.Gratereaux@foxnewslatino.com 

or via Twitter: @GalexLatino

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