Film “Vecinos” by UT alumnus presents an Austin story, accepting change

16 years ago, “Vecinos: Love Thy Neighbor” debuted as a sold-out event, eventually nominated for Best New Play in 2008. The film adaptation, characterized as a bilingual rom-com, tells the story of local Roberto and his neighbors as he begrudgingly watches the city of Austin change and begins to accept change for himself.

With production beginning in 2019, distribution for “Vecinos” came to a halt due to COVID-19. Produced by UT alumnus and Austin creative Rupert Reyes, the film premiered at UT’s G. B. Dealey Center for New Media on Feb. 21, hosted by the University Writing Center.

“It came out during COVID, so it hasn’t really had a premiere in Austin,” said Alice Batt, the University Writing Center’s assistant director and longtime friend of Reyes. “It seemed like a good opportunity to create that possibility for people.”

Batt said the UWC mainly focuses on providing writing mentorship to students, highlighting creative writing in addition to expository projects.

“Rupert is a great example, as an [alumnus] of UT,” Batt said. “He was a student at UT, and look what he’s gone on to do. You can do this sort of thing, too. You can write like this. It’s not impossible.”

Hosting a few events per semester, including an upcoming songwriting workshop with UT’s Songwriter in Residence Darden Smith, UWC director Jacqueline Rhodes said the organization supports scholars in all kinds of writing.

“Rupert wrote a play. He’s also an [alumnus] of UT, so that was another connection,” Rhodes said. “I thought, ‘That’s really interesting writing, and I’d love for the tutors to be able to see that’—and that expanded to, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to get the community to come in and [watch]?’”

Alma Chapa Moore, who portrays Roberto’s love interest, Maria, in “Vecinos,” serves as assistant principal at Kiker Elementary School in Austin. Having grown up in South Texas, Moore said she moved to Austin more than 20 years ago.

“I’ve done commercials and print ads; I was in 30 seconds of ‘The Leftovers’ on HBO,” Moore said. “It was so different from being on camera and building those relationships.”

Beginning with the debut of “Vecinos” in 2008, both Reyes and actress Karinna Perez Cantu starred in two stage productions before deciding to pursue a film adaptation.

“[Reyes and Cantu] sat down, wrote it and decided to make this happen, which is amazing,” Moore said.

Moore said “Vecinos” mastermind Reyes actively advocates for Hispanic and Mexican art and that his passion translated into the making of the film. According to Texas Today, “Vecinos” is a bilingual rom-com, and Moore said audiences with all levels of understanding of Spanish can appreciate the dialogue.

“There was a lot of talk about putting the translation to what we said, and it was decided that that wasn’t the route we were going to [take],” Moore said. “[The dialogue] was always [made up of] things that Hispanic people say, things that we throw in there as an afterthought.”