A Radical Q & A
by Karen Pecota

The movie RADICAL was the first film of my 2023 Sundance Film Festival experience. I was impressed. I looked forward to learning more about the inspiring story from the Q & A (question and answer) session immediately following the screening on opening night.

Present were the director, producers, and main actors. The shared conversations were delightfully inspiring and insightful of one teacher's mission to have a radical and beloved teaching style.

The two actresses, Jennifer Trejo and Mia Fernandez Solis, were not much older than their sixth-grade characters. When asked to share their experience, a pause and then tears naturally flowed as they shared, in their mother tongue, about the impact their characters have had on their own lives.

Mia portrays an adolescent in the film that faces the realities of abortion. To prepare for this role she had several conversations with her own parents regarding the topic. She noted that training for this scene was difficult because it dealt with an issue she had not developed a personal opinion about at her young age. Her role required her to rise above herself in order to adequately portray a character more intelligent, articulate and driven than her own self.

Jennifer's character was highly intelligent and aspired to be an aeronautic engineer as she loved to look at the stars. She lived with her dad in a shack at the edge of the city dump. She often made useful items out of the junk she found. She built a telescope out of junk in order to look at the stars that inspired her.

Both girls shared why they were grateful for the opportunity to play these characters. It changed their lives. They experienced characters unlike themselves. They were introduced to a teacher who believed in kids. A teacher who encouraged kids to pursue their dreams and to take advantage of the natural talent they showed at a very young age because of the impact it could have on their future and the world.