General Santa Anna – Hero or Traitor?

From legendary director Felipe Cazals, comes Su Alteza Serenisima, a historical drama of the last days of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Despite defeating the Texians at the Alamo, he lost the war of Texas Independence and gave away half of Mexico (including Texas, New Mexico, and Oregon). Exiled from his homeland, he is allowed to return only a few years before dying in 1876. At the end of his life, he still clings to illusions of regaining his former glory and popularity.

One of Mexico’s most acclaimed films, Su Alteza Serenisima garnered eleven 2001 Mexican Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Alejandro Parodi) Best Actress (Ana Bertha Espin), Best Supporting Actor (Pedro Armendariz,Jr.) and Best Screenplay.

Felipe Cazals is known as one of the most important filmmakers of the New Wave of Mexican Cinema that evolved in the bitterness and angst of the late 1960s. His films address profound and often disturbing issues from Mexico’s history that reflect upon the nation’s tortured identity. Noted Alfonso Cuaron, director of Y Tu Mama Tambien and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, “Cazals brings a natural narrative intelligence to a theme, which in his best movies is based on a real event”.

General Santa Anna (Su Alteza Serenisima), as part of the Latin Cinema Collection, has been digitally restored, remastered and includes English subtitles, English and Spanish menus, biographies and trailers. It will be released September 28, 2004 with a SRP of $19.95. Other Felipe Cazals films in the Latin Cinema Collection include Canoa, honored with the Silver Bear at the 1976 Berlin Film Festival, and El Tres de Copas (The Three of Cups), nominated for five Mexican Academy Awards.