Second Trailer for Teaching True Story ‘Radical’ with Eugenio Derbez
by Alex Billington
September 15, 2023
Source: YouTube
“Nothing has changed in education in the last 100 years. But it turns out these kids are really smart.” Yep. Pantelion Films has debuted the official trailer for Radical. This first premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year to very positive reviews (read mine here), winning the “Festival Favorite Award”. In a Mexican border town plagued by neglect, corruption, and violence, a frustrated teacher tries a radical new method to break through his students’ apathy and unlock their curiosity, their potential… and maybe even their genius. Based on a true story (from 2013), which introduced the world to one young Mexican girl who they put on magazine covers. Eugenio Derbez stars as the teacher, Sergio, along with Daniel Haddad and a cast of vibrant young local kids. The “radical” method he uses is basically throwing out the text books and teaching them how to use their intuition to figure things out, free thinking to help open their minds. I’m a big fan of this one – it’s deeply moving and fully inspiring. Just the kind of encouraging film we need now.
Here’s the main official trailer (+ poster) for Christopher Zalla’s Radical, direct from YouTube:
You can rewatch the initial teaser trailer for Zalla’s Radical movie right here, for the first look again.
Via Sundance: “Who will the sixth grade students at Jose Urbina Lopez Elementary in Matamoros become? They are among the worst performing students in Mexico; the world they know is one of violence and hardship, and their classrooms are dominated by an atmosphere of overbearing discipline, not possibility. It might seem like a dead end… it is also the perfect place for new teacher Sergio Juarez to try something different. There’s just one problem: Sergio (played by an amazing Eugenio Derbez) has no idea what he’s doing.” Radical is both written and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Zalla, director of the movies Blood of My Blood and Beautiful & Twisted previously, plus a few shorts and TV work directing on “Law & Order”. Based on the 2013 Wired article by Joshua Davis. Produced by Ben Odell, Eugenio Derbez, and Joshua Davis. This initially premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year (read our review). Pantelion Films debuts Zalla’s Radical in select US theaters starting October 20th, 2023 this fall.