A Day Without a Mexican (2004)

Director:

Sergio Arau

Writers:

Sergio Arau (writer)
Yareli Arizmendi (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

6 August 2004 (Mexico)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery

Tagline:

On May 14 there will be no Mexicans in California.

Plot:

One day California wakes up and not a single Latino is left in the state. They have all inexplicably dissappeared, chaos, tragedy, and comedy quickly ensue.

Plot Keywords:

Mexican | Border | Musician | Senator | Scientist

Awards:

3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Caroline Aaron	...	Aunt Gigi
Tony Abatemarco	...	Talk Show Host
Melinda Allen	...	Ellen Abercombie (as Melinda R. Allen)
Frankie J. Allison	...	Oficer Carr (as Frankie Jay Allison)
Fernando Arau	...	Undocumented 1
Yareli Arizmendi	...	Lila Rodriguez
Todd Babcock	...	Nick
Maria Beck	...	Officer Sanchez
Yeniffer Behrens	...	Suzy
Arell Blanton	...	Chris
Cassidy Paige Bringas	...	Tracy Abercrombie
Brian Brophy	...	Barney Montana
Pilar Camporredondo	...	Lila's Mom (as Maria Camporredondo Neeley)
Elpidia Carrillo	...	Cata
Larry Carroll	...	Newscaster
Suzette Craft	...	Newscaster
Maureen Flannigan	...	Mary Jo Quintana
Suzanne Friedline	...	Vicki Martin
Jonathan Fuller	...	Dean - Neighbor
Luis García	...	Undocumented 2 (as Luis Garcia)
Joaquín Garrido	...	Jose Mendoza (as Joaquin Garrido)
John Getz	...	Senator Abercombie
Carlos Gómez	...	Jose Velasquez Diaz (as Carlos Gomez)
Will Greenberg	...	Jeff
Santiago Guerrero	...	Bobby Quintana
Raul A. Hinojosa	...	Abdul Hassan
Sabrina Howard	...	Lucy Quintana
Charles Kahlenberg	...	General Hoff
Baron Kelly	...	Officer Hyland
Shishir Kurup	...	Alex
Karen Ve Londa	...	Rapture Infomercial Woman
Cyndi Martino	...	Nurse Jackie
Dori Mizrahi	...	Unemployed Actor
Bru Muller	...	George McClaire
Rick Najera	...	Magician Announcer
Steven Nevius	...	Sit Com Guy
Eduardo Palomo	...	Roberto Quintana
Christian Parizeau	...	Little Louis
Ryan Quintana	...	Border Patrol #1
Salli Saffioti	...	Mary Jo's Neighbor
MaryBeth Scherr	...	Sharon (as Mary Beth Scherr)
León Singer	...	Lila's Dad (as Leon Singer)
Jason Stuart	...	Restauranteur
Jossie Thacker	...	Officer Hyland's Wife
Sylvia Thompson	...	Parking Officer
Muse Watson	...	Louis McClaire
Dawn Westlake	...	Field Reporter
Michael White	...	'Unsolved' Host
Gwendoline Yeo	...	Newscaster
Ogie Zulueta	...	Dr. Takeshi
Eddie 'Piolin' Sotelo	...	Special Voice Appearance (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rosario Alair	...	Lawyer (uncredited)
Celestine	...	Bar Patron (uncredited)
Rachel Currence	...	Officer's Daughter (uncredited)
Michael Dean	...	Protestor (uncredited)
Mark DeWhitt	...	Border Patrol Agent #2 (uncredited)
Alex Ferguson	...	Border Patrol Agent (uncredited)
Jason Horton	...	Border Patrol Agent (uncredited)
Elizabeth M. Kelly	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Jimmy Lin	...	Senator's Photographer (uncredited)
Christopher Marsteller	...	Los perros mojados drummer (uncredited)
Judy Prestininzi	...	Border Patrol Agent (uncredited)
Edward Scott	...	Mariachi (uncredited)
Rafael Simón	...	Homeless (uncredited)
Kaleti Williams	...	Bartender (uncredited)

Directed by
Sergio Arau

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Sergio Arau		writer
Yareli Arizmendi		writer
Sergio Guerrero		writer

Produced by
Isaac Artenstein	....	producer
Álvaro Garnica	....	associate producer
Francisco González Compeán	....	associate producer
Bruce A. Simon	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Juan Colomer

Cinematography by
Alan Caudillo

Film Editing by
Daniel Fort

Casting by
Penny Ludford

Production Design by
Anthony R. Stabley		(as Anthony Rivero Stabley)

Art Direction by
Charlie Brownell

Set Decoration by
Charlie Brownell
Chris Davis

Costume Design by
Carlos Brown

Makeup Department
Heidi Grotsky	....	makeup department head
Paula Le Mieux	....	key makeup artist
Juliet Silva	....	makeup day-player

Production Management
Laurie Ann Schag	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Steve Godwin	....	first assistant director: second unit
Sergio Guerrero	....	second unit director
Johnny Haddad	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Susana Acosta-Mondragon	....	additional graphic artist
Joshua Cheek	....	set dresser
Eric Conger	....	assistant property master
Gregory M. Edgar	....	property master
Ramírez Gabriela	....	art department coordinator
Christopher Marsteller	....	first assistant decorator
Carole Payette	....	scenic painter

Sound Department
Karma Barber	....	adr mixer
David Beres	....	sound mixer
Diego Borghello	....	boom operator
Jose R. Castellon	....	re-recording engineer
George E. Marshall Jr.	....	boom operator
Ricardo Núñez	....	foley artist
Eddie Rogers	....	adr mixer
Carlos Solis	....	sound re-recording mixer
Waldo Valenzuela	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Rudy Perez	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Adam Avitabile	....	digital compositor
Henrik Fett	....	visual effects supervisor: LOOK Effects, Inc.
Jay Mark Johnson	....	visual effects supervisor
Danny S. Kim	....	creative director

Stunts
Ted Barba	....	stunt coordinator
Nick Brett	....	stunt double
Marian Green	....	stunts
Frank Torres	....	stunt coordinator
Frank Torres	....	stunt performer

Camera and Electrical Department
Todd Appleman	....	gaffer
Greg Flores	....	grip
Jordan Guzzardo	....	grip
Jaime Herrera V.	....	dolly grip
Andrew Kuepper	....	playback operator
Andrew Kuepper	....	video assist operator
Diego Sanchez	....	grip
David Neal Stewart	....	electrician
Cameron Thorburn	....	key grip: pick-up shots
Eduardo Flores Torres	....	director of photography: second unit

Casting Department
Fernando Cubillas	....	casting: Los Angeles
Iris Hampton	....	background casting
Iris Hampton	....	local casting

Editorial Department
Susana Acosta-Mondragon	....	post-production assistant
Alejandro Valdes-Rochin	....	assistant editor

Transportation Department
Scott Anderson	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Tania Araiz	....	production coordinator: pre-production
Deborah Bacquel	....	production accountant
Laura Brown	....	production secretary
Roberto De Biase	....	location manager
Liz Kline	....	production coordinator
Annette Moreno	....	craft service
Ryan O'Quinn	....	adr voice
Paula Price	....	adr loop group leader
Audric Thompson	....	assistant production coordinator

Production Companies

• Eye On The Ball Films
• Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía (IMCINE)
• Jose and Friends Inc.
• Plural Entertainment
• RTG Productions

Distributors

• Kino Bez Granits (2006) (Russia) (theatrical)
• Altavista Films (2004) (worldwide)
• Lightning Entertainment (2004) (non-USA) (all media) (sales)
• Plural Entertainment (worldwide)
• Televisa Cine (USA)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (2005) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (2005) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Videocine (worldwide)
• Xenon Pictures (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• e-m-s the DVD-Company (2006) (Germany) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Marcella C. Public Relations  DVD publicity

Also Known As:

Un día sin méxicanos (Mexico)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and brief sexuality.

Runtime:

USA:100 min | Argentina:100 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

USA | Mexico | Spain

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:12 | Argentina:16 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

San Diego, California, USA

Company:

Eye On The Ball Films

Trivia:

The scenes on the empty San Diego streets were shot on 1 January, when there are few people about, because the production was unable to pay for closing them.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The scenes in Stockton, California show orange groves in the background. There are no orange groves in Stockton.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip: The Christmas Show (#1.11)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

La Vida Es Un Camote

The Mexicans among us

Sergio Arau's satire "A Day Without a Mexican" takes a poignant look at something that has been in the news lately. Mr. Arau's new take on the theme he has explored already, give us a vision about how inter connected we are in this country. This movie will resonate more with people from California. Mexicans in that state account for most of the immigrants, illegal, or otherwise.

We are given the premise that a fog is enveloping the state and all Mexicans have disappeared into it. The Anglos, so dependent for much of the work from Mexicans don't seem to be coping well when the reality about having to do something they take for granted will be done by their Mexican workers.

Yareli Arizmendi and Eduardo Palomo do fine work under Mr. Arau's direction.