Writer Esmeralda Santiago is currently in Río Piedras, where America, based on the Puerto Rican author´s novel America’s Dream is being filmed. The film is produced by Frances Lausell and directed by filmmaker Sonia Fritz (Isla Films). Santiago traveled to Puerto Rico to meet the cast. She says that she is impressed with the casting selection, “Lymari Nadal plays ‘America’ and her husband, the well known actor, producer, and director Edward James Olmos, will perform one of the major characters, Don Irving.” Other cast members include Yancey Arias, Frank Perozo, Rachel Ticotin, Luis Gonzaga, Marisé Álvarez, Anamín Santiago, Eyra Agüero and Roy Sánchez.

Santiago’s novel tells the story of America, a woman who works as housekeeper in a Vieques hotel. She lives with her alcoholic mother and her teenage daughter. Haunted by an ongoing violent relationship with the father of her daughter, she decides to accept a position as a nanny in New York City and moves without telling anyone her whereabouts. America’s Dream explores the complex psychological state of women in abusive relationships, who are torn between the secrecy imposed on them by social stigma and the need to seek help.

This is the second time one of Santiago’s novels has been brought to the big screen. In 2001, the filmic version of Almost a Woman premiered in the United States.

For full articles (in Spanish), see http://www.dialogodigital.com/es/node/3561 and http://www.primerahora.com/diario/noticia/cine/espectaculos_asi/viven_el_sueno_en_filme_america/344939