Marston builds incredible tension. But it's the human drama etched on Moreno's young, weary face that gives Maria its potent punch." Peter Travers ROLLING STONE "A stunner of a film." Desson Thomson WASHINGTON POST "A captivating and compelling performance by newcomer Catalina Sandino Moreno" Steve Rhodes STEVE RHODES' INTERNET REVIEWS "Subtle, quiet look at a desperate journey hurts and haunts by giving us people's stories -- not a politicized slogan." James Rocchi NETFLIX "socks a one two punch with the breakthrough performance of lead actress Sandino Moreno...and its harrowing and tense midsection" Laura Clifford REELING REVIEWS

"Catalina Sandino Moreno, making her film debut as Maria, gives a moving performance that will stay with you." Marcy Dermansky ABOUT.COM "Throughout, we're constantly rooting for Maria, aware of her underlying decency and protective of her missteps." Duane Byrge HOLLYWOOD REPORTER "Takes a simple story and molds it into something eloquent and menacing." Robert K Elder CHICAGO TRIBUNE "Sad, sobering, tension-filled and disquieting." Robert W Butler KANSAS CITY STAR "Maria Full of Grace contains a tour de force performance by Catalina Sandino Moreno as a courageous and adventuresome seventeen-year old Columbian." Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat SPIRITUALITY AND HEALTH

The Inside Story

"What's striking about 'Maria Full of Grace' is the way it manages to remain beautifully direct while generating enormous emotional impact." Frank Swietek ONE GUY'S OPINION

"Maria Fiull Of Grace" marks both the directorial and screen-writing debut for Joshua Marston who has had a long interest in Columbian politics and who's "Brooklyn neighborhood is home to many émigrés from Colombia." It's a skillful story centred on the life of a Columbian teenager who finds herself pregnant and becomes a drug 'mule' in an attempt to give her unborn child a better life than she faced. It was a story he first heard from a woman who was convicted of swallowing heroin capsules and was caught while trying to enter the USA. "It was a story that I hadn’t ever seen, and I’d certainly never seen it told from the point of view of someone who’s actually done it," says Marston. "That was one of the original inspirations for the film: to look at what it is to be a drug mule and try to imagine it from that person’s perspective. To begin to understand what would propel somebody to do this." To do this Marston needed to research the subject at grass roots level. This was achieved by interviewing convicted Columbian drug 'mules', observing Customs Officer's at work in New Yorks Kennedy Airport and meeting Orlando Tobón, "a respected leader in the Colombian community who has worked on behalf of drug mules and their families since the 1980s." Over a period spanning two decades Orlando Tobón has arranged the return of some 400 drug 'mules' bodies to Columbia. It is a fact that Police often seek his assistance. Tobón was that impressed with Marston that he became an associate producer on the film. "I thought it was a beautiful idea for people to see an authentic depiction of a drug mule’s situation," he said, "and to see the human story." Marston says he "began to see Tobón as a vital part of the story he wanted to tell, and developed the character of 'Don Fernando' based upon him." Not everything went smoothly though. Marston admits that when it came to developing the character of the young girl at the centre of the story he ran into difficulties. While he Marston travelled to Ecuador and revealed "he had visited the flower plantations that are very similar to those of neighboring Colombia", he still knew very little about real life in Columbia. Help again came from his neighbours. From them he "learned about family structures and social activities, and about the difficult labor of the flower plantations." Armed with all this information Marston says he went on to developed a script that would focus more on the struggle of a young girl named Maria and less on the drug aspect. But while Maria is obviously central to the film, it is an interpretation that may be lost on some cinemagoers after they see Marston's hauntingly, beautiful film, after all much of the focus in "Maria Full Of Grace" is on the 'mule' experience and it's subsequent effect on those around Maria. "I think there are probably certain universals of a 17-year-old’s life that cut across culture and economics," Marston said. "That was one of the aspects that made the film personal for me, because it is about someone trying to figure out who she is and her place in the world. It’s about Maria not being satisfied with where she is; she’s looking and yearning for something else, even if she can’t define or articulate it. From that developed a script that was less and less about a drug mule, and more and more about a young woman trying to break out and kick against a world that seemed to be pressing in on her, in order to achieve something more." Marston sent his finished screenplay to producer Paul Mezey who had previously worked on two films which were similar to the tale that "Maria Full Of Grace" tells. Mezey didn't waste time reading the script. He read it in one session. "The story grabs you from the moment you encounter this character," Mezey said. "You didn’t quite know what you were getting into, in the same way that Maria herself doesn’t know. You just get drawn in. At the same time, the script was very subtle. It gracefully dealt with the inherent drama, but never allowed the plot points to overtake the core story about this young woman." A week later Marston spoke with Mezey who agreed to come on board. It was here that fate stepped in for Mezey's father had grown up in Columbian and Mezey was about to accompany him there to a conference. It was Mezey's first trip to Columbia and what an experience it turned out to be. "I was on the ground, reading the script and driving out in the country with my father," Mezey recalls. "I could see the story coming to life in that landscape, and it was visually amazing. That’s when I jumped from the hypothetical to the real." Marston too, would spend time there, researching the life-style, visiting towns, plantations, a centre for pregnant girls, spoke to prisoners and was given a demonstration of how 'pellets' are made for the drug 'mules' to transport in their stomachs. Marston received another boost for the project when Columbian Jaime Osorio Gómez came on board as Co-Producer. The leading figure in the Columbian film industry was suitabley impressed with Marstons screenplay noting, "It read like it had been written by a Colombian. It captured the details of Maria’s life; her work, her home, her family, the financial troubles that they have to deal with on a day-by-day basis. Every day, you see the news about the drug mules who get caught on planes in Colombia or in the States, or who die in their attempts to bring drugs into the U.S. or Europe or Asia" Ready to go into production all that was left was to find a suitable cast and the right person to play the role of Maria. That search would take in Columbia, Ecuador, New York and Miami. In fact several months would pass during which time some 800 young women would audition unsuccessfully for the role. A decision was made to postpone production. Then a 'miracle' happened. A down in the dumps Marston recalls he "received a videotape from Colombia. I was barely looking at the TV as I hit ‘play’ on the VCR. Catalina was the first person on the tape and literally within 30 seconds, I knew. She was captivating. And she was Maria: she looked like the character I had written, she acted like her, and she had this amazing freshness to everything she did." Once again fate had played a big part for as the beautiful young actress revealed, "she hesitated to take on her first film audition. I said, 'Well, if they haven’t picked me for anything else, why are they going to pick me for a movie?' And my friend went, 'Just try it.' Then my mother said,' Yeah, you have to go, you have to go'." The end result is that Catalina Sandino Moreno got the role and an Academy Award ® nomination this year in the fine company of Annette Bening, Kate Winslet, Imelda Staunton and the eventual Oscar ® winner Hilary Swank. Life has changed for Catalina since "Maria Full Of Grace" was released. The young high school teenager who in 1997 enrolled at the Ruben Di Pietro theatre academy in Bogotá has since relocated to New York City, where she attended The Lee Strasberg Institute. Catalina recently returned to the stage making her New York debut in the Frog & Peach Theatre Company’s production of Shakespeare’s "King John". "Maria Full Of Grace" has turned out to be a wonderfully entertaining production. Cinemagoers and the film world now waits to see what life holds for both Joshua Marston and Catalina Sandino Moreno. Crew Bytes "MARIA FULL OF GRACE" was .......
directed by Joshua Marston [debut]; screenplay by Joshua Marston [debut]; costume design by Lauren Press ["Uninvited", "The Imposters", "Lawn Dogs" and "Donnie Brasco"] and Sarah Beers ["Brother to Brother", "XX/XY", "The Guys" and "The Motel"]; production design by Monica Marulanda ["Mediometrajes", "Edipo Alcalde", "Soplo de Vida" and "Our Lady of the Assassins"] and Debbie De Villa ["Love the Hard Way", "Skins", "The Opportunists" and "Ulee’s Gold"]; edited by Anne McCabe ["Crimes and Misdemeanors", "Casualties of War", "The Daytrippers" and "You Can Count On Me"] and Lee Percy A.C.E. ["Kiss of the Spider Woman", "Boys Don’t Cry", "Single White Female" and "Corrina, Corrina"]; director of photography Jim Denault ["Real Women Have Curves", "Boys Don’t Cry", "The Clockwatchers", "City Of Gods" and "Hide and Seek"]; original music by Jacobo Lieberman and Leonardo Heiblum ["Frida", "Crónica de un desayuno", "De qué lado estás?" and "The Maldonado Miracle"]; music supervisor Lynn Fainchtein ["22 Days in Acapulco", "The Hire", "Amores Perros" and "21 Grams"]; produced by Paul Mezey ["The City ", "Our Song", "Spring Forward" and "The Ballad of Ramblin’ Jack"] and co-produced by Jaime Osorio Gómez ["Chile No Se Rinde Carajo", "Visa USA", "Confessing to Laura" and "Our Lady of the Assassins"]. Casting About "MARIA FULL OF GRACE" stars .......
Catalina Sandino Moreno [debut]; Yenny Paola Vega [debut]; Jhon Alex Toro ["El gato escaldaldo le teme a la piel fría", "Mal de amor" and "The First Night"]; Patricia Rae [TV's "Malcolm in the Middle" & "Law & Order" and film credits "D.O.T.", "Swimfan" and "Nightstalker"] and Guilied López ["Emerald Cowboy"] as Lucy. What It's All About

"If I’ve ever seen a movie that better produced riveting drama on a low budget with no exaggeration of character or CGI effects, I can't remember it." Jules Brenner FILMCRITIC.COM

At 17 years of age, Maria's life in a small town north of Bogotá is one with a bleak future. Her life is dominated by a menial job working in a flowerpacking factory where the days are spent on her feet stripping foliage from the long stemmed roses. Weekends are spent in the company of her best friend Blanca and with her boyfriend Juan, who seems more content with drinking on the sidelines than joining Maria on the dance floor at the parties in the plaza. At home Maria lives with her Grandma, mother, sister and infant nephew. Maria is sick of working just to see her money spent on her sister's sickly child. The situation is about to get worse for the freespirited young girl. She hasn't had her period for two months. In a life defing move, Maria decides not to marry Juan. She will find a better way to support herself and her unborn child. She will move to Bogotá and work as a maid. Then an opportunity is presented to her through a casual acquaintance named Franklin. He has a friend who can offer her work and the money is huge. His friend will pay her $5000 to travel to the United States and back. When Franklin mentions the word 'mule', Maria immediately understands it involves drug running. Determined to give her baby a better life than she has had, Maria agrees to meet Javier. Javier understands her initial hesitence and offers her a gift of money in an attempt to ease her fears. Returning home to ponder her future Maria discovers that her best friend Blanca has already agreed to become a 'mule'. Maria's mind is made up, she will accept Javier's offer. She soon discovers that running drugs is a deadly game in which there are always casualties. The Verdict "A dark, haunting story that has probably been played out in numerous airports around the world. Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear recipient Catalina Sandino Moreno is superb in the role of Maria and was thoroughly deserving of her 2005 Academy Award ® nomination in the Best Actress category. "Maria Full Of Grace" is a powerful example of skillful storytelling that swings audience sympathy to Maria's plight and then has them hoping against hope that she will not fall victim to the same fate that has befallen many other drug 'mules'. Highly Recommended." The Cast

Catalina Sandino Moreno Yenny Paola Vega Virgina Ariza Johanna Andrea Mora Wilson Guerrero Jhon Álex Toro Guilied Lopez Patricia Rae Orlando Tobon Fernando Velasquez Jaime Osorio Gómez Mateo Suarez Fabricio Suarez Juana Guarderas Rodrigo Sánchez Borhorquez Charles Albert Patino Evangelina Morales Victor Macias Hugo Ferro Ana Maria Acosta Ada Vergara De Solano Maria Consuelo Pérez Ed Trucco Selenis Leyva Juan Porras Hincapie Oscar Bejarano Singkhan Bandit Patrick Rameau Monique Curnen Lourdes Martin Osvaldo Plasencia

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Maria Alvarez Blanca Juana Diana Juan Franklin Lucy Carla Aristizábal Don Fernando Pablo Aristizábal Javier Baby Pancho Baby Pancho Female Pharmacist Supervisor Felipe Rosita Pellet Maker Pharmacist Stewardess Carolina Constanza Customs Inspector Customs Inspector Wilson Carlos Gas Attendant Taxi Driver Receptionist Doctor Enrique

The Crew Directed by Joshua Marston Written by Joshua Marston Produced by Paul S Mezey Original Music by Leonardo Heiblum & Jacobo Lieberman Cinematography by Jim Denault Film Editing by Anne McCabe & Lee Percy Casting by Maria E Nelson Production Design by Debbie DeVilla Production Supervisor Jeremy Kipp Walker Run Time 101 minutes Rated M15+ [AUST] Copyright ©2005 - HBO Films/Fine Line Features - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2005 - Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved