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A Million Miles Away
The life of engineer and former NASA astronaut José M. Hernández, the first migrant farmworker to go to space.
2023 · Directed by Alejandra Márquez Abella · 122 min · Drama · History · Screenplay in the scene database · 9 frames
Tagline
It takes more than a dream to reach the stars.
Plot
In the late 1960s and 70s, José is a young boy whose family travels from Michoacán as migrant workers picking grapes in California, his parents hoping to buy a house back home after they've made enough money. While they are working in the harvest season, José attends school and works in the fields with his family after. His teacher, Ms. Young, notices his potential and visits his parents at home to express her concern over the disruption to his studies by going back and forth as migrant workers. After his father is only paid partial wages for his work, he realizes José's teacher was right to be concerned and the family decides to stay in California full time.
Years later, José graduates from the University of the Pacific and is hired as an engineer at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Feeling as if he needs to fit in better, he trades in his customized 1963 Chevrolet Impala for a used Mazda RX-7. While signing the paperwork, he meets Adela, whom he asks out. After an intimidating first meeting with her family, they see each other more until they marry. They have five kids and José continues to work successfully at the lab, now instructing the researchers who had previously ignored him.
One day during class, José's boss offers him a chance to join a team going to Russia to evaluate a shipment of enriched uranium the United States is looking to purchase for NASA, noting that a trip like that would look really good on an application to the NASA space program. After several rejections, José hand delivers his 12th application in person to Frederick Sturckow who trains incoming astronauts and is a veteran of the Space Shuttle program. He makes a positive impression on Sturckow and is accepted into the program shortly thereafter.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: Alejandra Márquez Abella, Hernán Jiménez, Bettina Gilois
- Edited by: Hervé Schneid
- Music: Camilo Lara
- Produced by: Mark Ciardi, Campbell G. McInnes
Cast
- Michael Peña as José Hernández
- Rosa Salazar as Adela
- Julio Cesar Cedillo as Salvador
- Veronica Falcón as Julia
- Juanpi Monterrubio as José (Age 7)
- Garret Dillahunt as Sturckow
- Sarayu Blue as Kalpana Chawla
- Bobby Soto as Beto
- Ashley Ciarra as Marisa
- Eric Johnson as Clint Logan
Production
- Country: United States of America, Mexico
- Language: English
- Studios: Select Films, Redrum, Amazon MGM Studios
- Themes: underdog, based on novel or book, nasa, based on true story, astronaut, mexican american, migrant worker
More by Alejandra Márquez Abella
On this film
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