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Man robbed, kidnapped, stabbed on Hampton at Jefferson

Want to buy a 420-acre ranch in Oak Cliff?

City Council approves $11.25 million for Bishop Arts development

‘Anything for Selenas’ at Oak Cliff Cultural Center

A look back: Fifth and Crawford, as it stood in 1918

The Dialogue

FORT WORTH AVENUE DEVELOPER SEEKS $7.3 MILLION SUBSIDY

“So they are basically saying we don’t have enough money to build something. To me, in the real world, that means you can’t afford it.”

Patty Evans

“I recently completed renovations on a house I purchased in Oak Cliff. There were unexpected problems with Oncor, rewiring issues, permits, etc. There were things I had to cut out and there were budget overages I had to pay out of pocket. I wonder if I should have petitioned the city for tax breaks since things didn’t go as planned. Oh wait, I’m just a lowly responsible adult/homeowner/taxpayer.”— Karin

Oxtoby

“When do the hand outs ever stop? $11 million for Alamo Manhattan and now this? I wonder what Oak Cliff gets in return, other than more apartment blight.” — Antoinette Marie

WANT MORE?

Email editor Rachel rstone@advocatemag.com

Documentary duo

Filmmaking brothers destroy all stereotypes

When brothers Adolfo and Ivan Cantu-Villarreal immigrated to the United States, they brought only what would fit in their car.

Then 17 and 10, their mother moved them from Monterrey, Mexico to Dallas for the promise of better opportunities.

They were the sons of a famous Mexican drag racer and had dreams of being professional soccer players. But their lack of athletic ability, paired with creative minds and the immigrant work ethic, led them to careers in the arts.

Now 32 and 26, they own Oak Cliff-based Tzom Films with producer Maribel De Leon, and they produce commercials for clients including Fossil, Dave & Buster’s, Mary Kay and Fair Park. Anytime they can, they also produce music videos and independent films.

They say the immigrant experience informs their work.

Adolfo and Ivan are redheaded and of fair complexion. They didn’t grow up poor, and their parents weren’t migrant farm workers or housecleaners. But they find those are stereotypes that most Americans have of Mexican immigrants.

“It’s incredible how unsettled people can be at the fact that there are people out there who don’t fit the mold of the perception they’ve created for themselves,” Adolfo says.

As filmmakers, they strive to show their audiences the unexpected.

In a new video for Dallas-based rock band Nervous Curtains, “Devastator,” they employed a diverse cast of actors and dancers, most of them from Oak Cliff.

There is so much creative talent in our neighborhood that one doesn’t have to go far to find everyone from a makeup artist to a prop builder, they say.

“Filmmaking is all about connecting people it’s amazing the talent you can bring together,” Adolfo says. “It’s the hardest part of filmmaking, but it’s also the most rewarding.”

The Cantu-Villarreal brothers took unconventional education paths. Adolfo graduated from Lake Highlands High School, and his younger brother graduated from Richardson High. When Adolfo attended Richland College, though, he didn’t pursue a degree.

A counselor tried to set him on a path to graduation, but Adolfo said, “Forget about the degree.”

Instead, he took philosophy, art and music classes without regard to credits.

“I took the classes I wanted to take,” he says. “It was one of the best things that I did.”

Ivan is a self-taught illustrator and composer who also attended Richland College and didn’t finish. It’s one more way in which they don’t fit the mold.

Ivan describes an “obsessive drive” with art and film since childhood. Their mother, Renata Villarreal, never censored what they could read or watch. So young Ivan spent hours dissecting every shot of movies like “Goodfellas,” watching the scenes of his favorite films over and over.

Adolfo says one of his favorite parts of documentary filmmaking is research. When he takes on a project, he reads as much as possible about that topic. At the end, he disconnects from that and starts researching the next thing.

“Having a sense of curiosity is the most important thing as a human being,” he says. “When you stop being curious, I don’t know how you can wake up in the morning.”

He’s also a teacher. Adolfo offers a filmmaking summer camp, through nonprofit client Cara Mia Theater Co., at the Latino and Oak Cliff cultural centers.

The students use professional equipment and must meet the same high standards he sets for himself, he says. And they always succeed because most of them attend neighborhood schools and don’t have much of an arts education, so they’re hungry for any outlet.

Most of the summer camp students are girls, and Adolfo says they sometimes don’t think of themselves as directors and producers. From the first day, he sets out to smash those stereotypes.