Message of Forgiveness: Author/screenplay writer Howell translates life lessons into award-winning film

To Eddie Howell, forgiveness is everything. A retired teacher, counselor, and administrator, Howell has given many lessons in his lifetime, and in the film “Malas Fronteras”, his message of forgiveness is bringing recognition to Brownsville and the entire Rio Grande Valley.

“God has given me this gift of telling stories or making a book or making a movie that still teaches a moral lesson,” Howell said.

The film, which is based on Howell’s book, Por Unos Elotes, was named “Best Foreign Feature Drama” earlier this month at the 12th Annual International Family Film Festival in Hollywood, California. A Mercedes resident, Howell traveled to Hollywood and attended the screening of the movie for the competition along with film producers Laura E. Perez and Javier Chapa.

The film was selected from entries that were submitted from all over the world and when Howell found out that the film was chosen, he was overcome with joy.

“I fell to my knees and I felt extremely blessed,” Howell said. “I wanted to make it into a short film, but I never had any dreams of it ever getting to this level.”

The movie, which was filmed primarily in the Rio Grande Valley, has scenes from many of Brownsville’s well-known locations including the UTB/TSC’s Center for Civic Engagement and the Market Square bus terminal in downtown Brownsville. While the title of the film, “Malas Fronteras” translates in English to “bad border towns”, the overall message of the film is about forgiveness. It was a message Howell learned not long ago when at the age of 51, he started experiencing heart complications and took a sincere look on life.

“I was having complications with my health…Never had the importance or significance for forgiveness been so meaningful,” Howell said. “All of this happened ‘Por Unos Elotes’, over an ear of corn.”

The film, which is based on a tragic story that occurred in Howell’s family, takes place in the Rio Grande Valley during the 1920’s and shows how racial prejudices toward Latinos created an atmosphere of mistrust and resentment that often spiraled out of control. In the movie, Oscar, a young Latino migrant farm worker, witnesses his father’s murder, yet sees that nothing is done about it. Throughout the film, Oscar faces many economic and racial struggles as he sets out to get even with the man that took his father’s life.

Howell wrote the story as part fiction and part fact, and it didn’t take long for film producers to notice he had written a worthwhile plot. When Perez, who owns the Los Angeles-based film company, Alma Libre Films LLC, heard about this story, she knew it was movie material.

“It had a lot of art, it had a lot of culture, it had basically all the aspects of a really good movie,” Perez said. “This was one of those stories that we knew had to be told.”

Perez, who is originally from Mission, said that she spends her time in Los Angeles finding Latino-driven scripts and making them into movies. When she saw Howell’s story, she immediately called Chapa, who owns Hippo Films LLC in Los Angeles, and together, they started the process of bringing the story to the big screen.

Originally, the film was titled “Harvest of Redemption”, and shot mostly in Rio Grande City. However, as Perez and Chapa continued with the film process, they changed the title to “Malas Fronteras” and with the help of the Brownsville Film Commission, brought film crews to Brownsville to capture some of the city’s authentic cultural settings.

“We ended up shooting eight locations all over Brownsville and three appeared in the movie,” Perez said.

Currently, Perez and Chapa are in the process of negotiations to distribute “Malas Fronteras” to the general public and Perez said that when it happens, Rio Grande Valley residents would be the first to know.

Howell said he is grateful to Perez and Chapa for making his dream come true. “If it hadn’t been for them and their company, I wouldn’t have had the know how or the connections or the contacts to get it to this level,” Howell said.

Currently, Howell is working on a script for a new movie that shows the personal and societal struggles Hispanic musicians had to deal with during the rise of Tejano music. He said it too is a powerful story that forces the audience to really consider what is important in life.

“Too many movies come out in Hollywood that have no value whatsoever yet they make the box office and they make millions,” Howell said. “Yet stories like this, they don’t even have a chance, especially if there are Hispanic actors and characters.”

Howell hopes to start filming his new film around September and will hold auditions this summer in the Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio, and Austin. He also plans to use authentic music to supplement his storyline and is looking at various bands across the region.

“It’s based on the music of South Texas and I want to use some musicians and music from South Texas from then and now," Howell said.

Those interested in auditioning for Eddie Howell can contact him at (956) 472-4977.