hello and welcome to "comunidad del valle." i'm damian trujillo. the producer of a new movie about san francisco detailed three different stories in san francisco and three neighborhoods with prom negligent latino actors. the music of the old mystique band. this is "comunidad del valle." ♪ >> we begin with catholic charities and the good work the agency does all across santa clara county. with me on "comunidad del valle," saja reyes and juan

gill. you're in charge of children, youth and family services. we do have a slide show you all provided with us detailing some of the programs. tell us what it is specifically that you do to help the youth, which the inand families. >> yes, so we operate 22 different districts in san jose. we have an after-school reading program for students reading below their grade level, for students who are english learners as well, and for students who oftentimes just need that supportive environment after school. we serve over 3,000 students every year, every day we're in 00 i6:o about 6:00 in the evening. also helps support families to have somewhere for the child to be in a safe environment. >> these are mostly children who need the extra help, who need a little push? >> definitely. the children are mostly referred re teachers or theer administrators at the school that need additional language development, they need some writing skills to improve.

and along with the social skills as well. >> if you've seen the evolution, what have these programs done for these kids? how does it -- how have these programs helped them progress scholast scholastical, with literacy and everything else? >> we have a lot of stories of teachers letting us know how they saw improvements in their students during the school day. we've also seen students in the program who participated three years have shown an increase in their cst scores, the state scores, compared to students who have not been in the program. these are all the students who have scored at the lowest percentile on their scores. >> this is catholic charity, so i assume it's free? >> the program is froor rewide receiver charge a small registration fee for the year, $35. the program is 180 days of services that the students get, roughly 26 hours a week of services. >> so the services over at catholic charity is all-encompassing. juan, you deal with families who

are trying to either legalize themselves or become citizens. tell us exactly what you do for the agency. >> i'm an immigration counselor, created by the board of immigration appeals. so i assist people with any immigration and citizenship paperwork and representation. it could be reuniting families, so families abroad, a permanent resident petitioning for them. if someone is already here we try to figure out if they have a remedy so we can regularize their status. it could be under the violence against women act, under temporary status, under the central american relief act. so we analyze the cases and try to assist people to basically have a more stable life here in the u.s., either foreign-born or have their loved ones also be able to keep families together in the u.s. >> and how busy are you?

how many people come to your offices and say, i need help? >> well, we get about 2,500 people per year -- 25 people we actually help. with completion of applications. that is not counting those we give information to or do consultations for who may or may not have a remedy at the present time. so 70% of those we serve in santa clara county are latinos and we do have three different sites in gilroy and we have a site in the east side neighborhood center and our main office is also in northern san jose. >> is citizenship the goal or not necessarily? >> well, we highly encourage people who are eligible to become citizens to do so, because that gives them the most permanent status in the u.s. a lack of permanent residency, if they're out of the country

too long, they might lose their status, they might be accused of abandonment. if they commit any crime, make a mistake, they could always be subject to deportation. so the only permanent status in the u.s. is citizenship. >> what's it like for you to know or do you witness maybe raising the right hand, pledging their allegiance to this country? >> i just have myself. i became a naturalized citizen. >> congratulations. >> thank you. in 1997. for me, it is an acknowledgement. i see that with our clients, that this is also our country now. and even though i'm from mexico originally, i am mexican, i'm still mexican, but i'm also american. i don't have to be one or the other, i can be both. i think i see that with a lot of clients. they're proud of where they're coming, from but they also are proud and grateful for the opportunities that the united states offers them.

>> when you -- maybe these are children of immigrant parents. do you find maybe that is attributed also to the literacy rate? because maybe they come and they're in the third grade and they don't speak a word of english, now they're having -- they're tested and forced to learn the language that is foreign to them. does that contribute to the literacy rate, do you think? >> definitely. the district as a whole, for the majority of our schools, we have 70% to 80% english learners. it is attributed to parents not having english as a first language. you know, we do have services that support parents, we havage ambassadors program that helps parents navigate the educational system. how to read a report card, how to speak to teachers during conferences. we do have opportunities for parents to feel that they have a support system as well for them. and to be their child's primary

teacher. >> you all are empowering families. catholic chair tizz of santa clara county, there is a web address, address and phone number. any final thoughts? >> yeah, definitely. i think serving the community -- the latino communities is a very -- a privilege, i guess, to be in that position. juan explained, we're also those students, also those clients, it's very important to continue the great work. >> thank you so much for coming, thank you for the work that you're doing. >> thank you for the rt lunity. opportunity. up next, stay with us. [ mom ] to me, chex is not just a little bowl of cereal, it's kind of a big deal. to find nutritious and gluten-free cereals my whole family actually loves?

well, the word "wow" comes to mind. and then a friend told me chex has five flavors that are gluten-free. even a cinnamon one the kids love. a nutritious cereal that makes everybody happy? like i said, wow. [ male announcer ] chex cereal. five flavors. good and gluten free. dante is my guest on "communidad del valle." dante is the man who gave me a chance in tv news. sitting at home, i checked a message on my machine, it was dante offering me a job at telemundo. thank you for opening that door

for me. you can blame dante. you were the news director at te telemun telemundo, you hired me. >> that's before the spaniards came, i believe. >> a long time ago. since that time, i mean, tv news has evolved and it's gone in so many different directions. now we have bloggers, we have veejays. >> couldn't have imagined. >> when i was there, it was tape to tape. what happens if you're not keeping up with the technologies and the acronyms and everything else? >> if you don't keep up, you know -- what happens is as with anything else, you stay behind, you're lost in the dust, basically. so part of working in the media and any industry is keeping up. keeping up with new tolls and ways of doing things. otherwise, you're going to be lost. >> what can't change, you're a grizzled news veteran. what can't change is the old

ways of news-gathering. you have to check your sources, double-check your sources, be truthful and honest. we all know some bloggers kind of lose sight or never had sight of that. >> exactly. >> but your thoughts on that, the fact that we have to remain -- we have to keep those values and keep them near and dear. this is my press credential, i treat this like police officers treat their badges, you honor your press pass. >> it has to be that way. otherwise it becomes entertainment. nowadays there has to be entertainment as part of news links. people unfortunately turn on the tv to be entertained. yes, news has to be entertaining. graphics, music, singers, this and that to make it entertaining. the bottom line is it has to be balanced and it has to be truthful and it has to be real newscasts. it can't be just plain entertainment. >> i hear from professors who are teaching at various colleges

that this new crop of future journalists kind of feels entitled. factual errors are okay, you kind of -- >> entitled to what? make mistakes? >> i guess they're not brought up with the same values of news-gathering, which are paramount. you're not a news-gatherer if you don't have -- if you don't raise your right hand and swear allegiance to your press pass. >> right. it has to be that way. if your deviate from that, you're not a journalist anymore. >> well-put. we share the same thoughts. we do. >> we're lear to talk about your movie. a great cast. we have pictures of the two main characters. i don't know how you got this guy. richard montoya is one-third of the culture clash. >> exactly. >> he's a classic performer in chicano theater. veronica valencia also. tell us about the movie.

>> the movie is a local production with local talent, as much as we can. both behind and in front of the cameras. it's basically three stories being told simultaneously. the story is three different stories, actually. each one happening in a different san francisco neighborhood. so we have the barrio that happens in the mission district. the next happens in hu>>er's point. we're developing the third story that's going to play out in chinatown with a little mix of maybe north beach in there. >> how is it that you're -- i mean, this takes a lot of effort, concentration. what made you decide to make this type of film as opposed to,

say, a short film or independent film? >> well, i think i have enough production experience behind me to be able to tackle a big project. but what i like about this project is not only the genre, which is noir, film noir, but i'm approaching it in stages. it is three stories. i'm going to tackle each story as a separate short film. each story a 35, 40-minute film. when i'm done with the first, move on to the second one, so on, so forth. i think it's a good approach for my entry into the feature film world, so to speak. >> all right. it's called "sf noir." it's not in production yet. one month from now you'll go into production. >> exactly. >> the web address for more information. we'll be back and talk more with dante.

we're back with dante on "comunidad del valle," producing the new movie called "sf noir." i know you're in talks with richard montoya. >> yes. >> one-third of culture clash. his name comes with some good background. >> absolutely. >> some credentials. >> absolutely. that's why we stuck with the idea of trying to convince him to come on board, which we did finally about a week or so ago. but it all came through a couple of contacts that we had. my co-producer lou de matteus, a news photographer, renowned work for reuters, has a lot of photo journalism credentials. he's also local. he knows a lot of mission district people, including richard. and our production designer, very well regarded, one of the co-founders of culture clash.

so rene and richard go way, way back. through rene and through lou both, they were able to bring richard on board. >> so after the feature film and the folks walk out of the theater, what are you hoping they're walking away with at the end of the night? >> i hope that, first of all, they'll be entertained and they'll be satisfied with their investment, both in time and the financial part. and also, i want them to go home and think about life in the 21st century. life in 2012, life in the big city, life in urban america. you know, the subtheme is greed. and there's a little bit of big brother in it also. so i hope people think about their own values when they go home after watching the movie about our values as a society, and our individual values also, and how important it is to stick to your true self, to be able to

live a satisfied life and be able to raise healthy kids. and to be able to move forward as a society in a healthy way. in a positive direction. instead of being just stuck in the mud, so to speak, and greed and money and all this that nowadays, it just -- it's overwhelming. >> philosophical. >> hey. >> we have a lot of folkth out there who, you know, they may produce their own private, independent film. what can you tell them to convince them to go the next step and go for something like this? it's not easy i would imagine. >> it's not easy but nothing in life is easy. if you're going to sit home waiting for things to come knock at your door and be easy, good luck to you because you're not going to do much. my suggestion is, if you want to do a film or you want to do anything in life, just go and do it. go and plan it out as much as you can. but after a while, it's going to

be time for you to actually go out and do it. because it's not going to come to you. life comes to you in a way but you have to go in the other direction also. nothing's going to happen in your life. as a filmmaker it's difficult but you've got to start somehow. you have to demystify it also. we have hollywood and film as something unattainable, something that it's so hard and expensive to do. yes, it is hard and expensive but it's attainable. it's a matter of taking the first step. if you don't take the first step in film, or with anything else in life, you're never going to move forward. >> so you start shooting next month, in june. when do you think we'll be able to go see it and where do you think we'll be able to see it? >> the where, hopefully everywhere. but that's something that's going to -- something that needs to be worked out. >> do i need 3d glasses? >> no, it's not 3d. >> so "the avengers" better watch out. >> yeah, right, okay.

well, hopefully the outcome's true. no, i think it's going to be a very robust film. it's going to be -- you mentioned philosophical. but i think people are going to be left thinking about their lives, which is one of the goals in this production. and when are they going to be able to see it? well, hopefully it would be by next summer. >> wow. >> remember, three stories, three different productions, then post-production has to happen. >> your hair was black a couple of weeks ago, what happened? >> it was black when i met you. >> all right. so it's called "sf noir" and it's going to be playing, he promises, in the summer of 2013. there is the web address for more information. any parting thoughts before i let you go? >> parting thoughts is, first of all, thank you for having me here and reaching out to our community and to the bay area community in general. overall, whatever you want to do in life, just go do it. it's not going to come to you.

broth go grab it and make it yourself. >> first time as my guest here. get the cast members and we'll have the whole cast here. >> and we'll bring clips and talk some more about it. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. up next, the old video of mystique.hu -dad, why are you getting that? -that's my cereal. is there a prize in there? oh, there's a prize, all right. is it a robot? no. is it a jet plane? nope. is it a dinosaur?] [ male announcer ] inside every box of heart healthy cheerios are those great tasting little o's made from carefully selected oats that c help lower cholesterol. stickers? uh-uh. a superhero? ♪ kinda. [ male announcer ] and we think that's the best prize of all. ♪

now here's what's happening in your comunidad.

and here is our address for next week. pick up a copy of the newspaper and support your bilingual weeklies across the bay area. thank you for sharing a part of your sunday once again. we'll leave you with some old footage of mystique. they played for the first time on "comunidad del valle" in 1997 in our studios. let's reminisce a little bit with mystique. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ [ transforming sounds ] [ male announcer ] transformers. the ride. ride it at universal studios hollywood. beth! hi! looking good. you've lost some weight. thanks. you noticed. these clothes are too big, so i'm donating them. how'd you do it? eating right -- whole grain. [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multi-grain cheerios -- 5 whole grains, 110 calories.