Friday,
November
03,
2006
Los
Angeles
(Reuters):
Mel
Gibson
may
have
few
friends
left
in
the
Jewish
community
but
his
upcoming
movie
Apocalypto
could
make
him
a
hero
with
U
S
Latinos.
Gibson
yesterday
received
an
award
from
the
Los
Angeles-based
Latin
Business
Association
for
his
''vision
and
courage''
in
making
his
epic
tale
set
in
the
ancient
Mayan
Indian
empire
--
a
movie
filmed
in
Mexico
and
with
an
all-Hispanic
cast.
Showing
a
conference
of
Latino
business
leaders
excerpts
of
the
movie,
the
actor-director
described
the
making
of
Apocalypto
as
a
''badge
of
honor
for
the
Latino
community.''
Gibson,
who
spurred
outrage
by
going
on
a
anti-Semitic
rant
this
summer
when
arrested
for
drunk
driving,
called
his
Mayan-dialect
story
of
human
sacrifice
an
adventure
movie.
He
said
it
was
inspired
by
his
own
interest
in
the
Mayan
civilization,
which
thrived
more
than
1,000
years
ago
in
what
is
now
Mexico
and
Central
America.
The
film
is
set
for
release
in
early
December.
He
said
he
spent
eight
months
casting
the
movie,
choosing
performers
--
some
of
them
Mayans
--
who
had
mostly
never
acted
before.
The
movie
has
no
star
names
and
most
of
the
crew,
including
make-up
and
costume
artists
and
set
designers,
were
also
recruited
in
Mexico.
''It
was
tantamount
to
being
at
the
Super
Bowl
and
getting
your
quarterback
from
the
audience,''
he
admitted.
''But
they
scored
touchdown
after
touchdown.
I
don't
know
why
no
one
has
gone
down
there
before.''
CULTURAL
PRIDE
Presenting
the
award,
Latin
Business
Association
chairman
Rick
Sarmiento
said
that
at
a
time
of
anti-Latino
rhetoric
in
the
United
States,
the
movie
had
made
him
''feel
extremely
proud
of
everything
to
do
with
our
culture.''
Latinos
are
the
fastest
growing
minority
in
the
United
States
with
a
population
expected
to
reach
49
million
by
the
end
of
the
decade.
But
rising
Latino
influence
and
purchasing
power
is
clouded
by
a
divisive
national
debate
over
illegal
immigration,
much
of
it
from
Latin
America.
Gibson's
appearance
at
the
luncheon
was
part
of
a
bid
to
reach
out
to
a
target
audience
in
promoting
his
30
million
dollars
movie,
which
was
seen
as
a
marketing
challenge
even
before
his
drunken,
anti-Semitic
outburst
in
July.
The
50-year-old
Oscar
winner
checked
himself
to
an
alcohol
rehabilitation
center
and
has
apologised,
saying
he
was
ashamed
of
telling
police
that
''Jews
are
responsible
for
all
the
wars
in
the
world.''
Two
years
ago
Gibson
had
to
fight
off
charges
of
anti-Semitism
surrounding
his
film
The
Passion
of
the
Christ
-
also
a
deeply
personal
project
-
which
despite
initial
skepticism
over
its
Aramaic
and
Latin
language
grossed
611
million
dollars
worldwide.
Gibson,
a
devout
Roman
Catholic,
said
the
Mayan
civilisation
had
always
intrigued
him,
although
little
was
known
about
it
in
the
industrial
Western
world.
''It
is
generally
a
conceit
of
filmmakers
that
history
only
began
with
Europeans,''
he
said.
Apocalypto,
he
said
''is
not
really
a
Hollywood
production.
It
is
a
film
made
by
Mexico.
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