Friday, August 17, 2007

Garcia Bernal, Luna Gala for Human Rights

Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, stars of Y Tu Mama Tambien, hosted a $300-a-plate gala dinner benefiting Mexico’s Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights and Witness.
Witness was founded by rocker Peter Gabriel to promote video and film that document human rights abuse.
"Documentaries show us the injustices in the country where we live, that this problem exists," Garcia Bernal told a news conference before the dinner. "We can't escape it."
Luna and Garcia Bernal, who recently launched the Canana production company, also want to use documentaries to raise awareness about failures of the Mexican judicial system, including the unsolved murders of more than 300 women in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas.
"Each day it's harder to live in this country and in this city'' and turn a blind eye to the poverty and injustice, said Luna, who recently premiered his directorial debut Chavez, a documentary on the legendary Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez