Manito

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Manito chronicles the life of a family in Washington Heights, a vibrant Latino community still living under the legacy of an era shadowed by drugs and violence. Manny (Leo Minaya) is the salutatorian of his high school class, about to escape that same legacy that had forced his older brother Junior Moreno (rising star Frankie G.) to spend time in prison. With gritty, luminescent cinematography and unflinching portrayals of characters that embody the heart and soul of the neighborhood, writer/director Eric Eason brings us an electrifying feature debut in the finest tradition of independent filmmaking. Winner - Sundance, Tribeca and South by Southwest Film Festivals. Review ------ Manito, Eric Eason's debut feature, was made with very little money, a fair a of skill and a great deal of heart... Eason, using a hand-held camera and a largely new or nonprofessional cast, brilliantly captures the pulse of daily life in working-class, immigrant New York: the hectic rhythms of labor, leisure and family life, the stresses and pleasures, the anxieties and hopes. --A.O. Scott, The New York Times A heartfelt debut by writer-director Eric Eason. --Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times P.when('A').execute(function(A) { A.on('a:expander:toggle_description:toggle:collapse', function(data) { window.scroll(0, data.expander.$expander[0].offsetTop-100); }); }); About the Actor --------------- Franky G.: Franky G's birthname is Francisco Gonzalez. He was born in 1965 in Brooklyn, New York to parents of Puerto Rican descent. Gonzalez, whose parents moved from Puerto Rico, is the middle child of seven siblings. He studied criminal law investigation at Northeastern State University in Oklahoma. He later played semi-professional football as a running back for the Long Island Tomahawks. Since his screen debut in MANITO, Franky G has made a number of prominent appearances in American film and television, including the role of Xavier in Saw II and Saw III, Jonny Calvo in Fox TV's Jonny Zero, Louis in the Val Kilmer and Kate Bosworth film Wonderland, Wrench in F. Gary Gray's Italian Job, Louis in the Edward Burns and Rachel Weisz starrer Confidence and Hammer in the horror-thriller, The Devil's Tomb. From 2006-2007, Frankie G appeared with Ray Liota in the CBS crime series Smith. Buy Franky G.'s Film Movement Film About the Director ------------------ Eric Eason: Recently named "People to Look Out For" by the Los Angeles Times, Eric Eason was born and currently lives in New York City. He began filmmaking with a series of experimental Super 8 shorts. In 1995, he moved to Budapest and wrote a novel about the War in Bosnia. After returning to the U.S., Eric wrote and directed three 16mm narrative short films. Manito is his feature film debut. Eric's second feature Journey to the End of the Night came out in 2006. It stars Brendan Fraser, Mos Def, Scott Glenn and Catalina Sandino Moreno. See more ( javascript:void(0) )