El Chicano, a Latino-inspired superhero film starring Raul Castillo and George Lopez will kick off the 8th Annual Maryland International Film Festival-Hagerstown on March 29, 2019.

El Chicano is a symbolic film based on director Ben Hernandez Bray’s life whose brother was murdered by a gang. The all-Latino cast delivers compelling performances that depict El Chicano’s adventures as he fights against nefarious villains in the barrio. The film stars George Lopez, Aimee Garcia (Lucifer), Raul Castillo (Seven Seconds), Kate Del Castillo, and Emilio Rivera (Sons of Anarchy).

Ben Hernandez Bray said, “We are excited to screen our film for the Maryland audience. When I visited the festival a couple of years ago, we announced that we were going to make El Chicano. It’s humbling to see it come together and on the big screen.”

Ben Bray began his career in boxing. Those boxing skills led him into the stunt industry where he became one of the very few successful Latino stuntmen in Hollywood. Eventually, he became one of the top action stunt coordinators and second unit directors, working with “Smokin Aces” Joe Carnahan and “Silver Linings Playbook” David O Russell. After twenty-five plus years in the industry and over one hundred fifty film and television credits, Bray decided to try his skills as a director. He has found his passion directing television with Katie Heigl’s TV series “State of Affairs” for NBC/Universal, episodes for Fox/Bruckheimer, CW/Greg Berlanti and ABC/Freeform. El Chicano is Bray’s feature film directorial debut.

El Chicano will screen at the Maryland Theater located at 27 S. Potomac Street Hagerstown, MD at 7:00 PM. 

Briarcliff Entertainment has acquired U.S. rights to El Chicano and has planned to open in 600-800 theaters nationwide on May 3, 2019.