Movie, featuring late Jenni Rivera, arrives in theaters

Miami: ‘Filly Brown’ will begin showing Friday amid great expectation over seeing on the big screen the first and last movie performance of singer Jenni Rivera, who died in a plane crash in Mexico last December.

‘Filly Brown’ is about the efforts of aspiring hip hop artist Majo Tonorio (Gina Rodriguez) to establish a career and make enough money to get her drug-addicted mom (Rivera) out of jail. Although Rivera appears in just four scenes, the film has generated great interest among the US Hispanic public by becoming the posthumous work of the popular singer. Hollywood veteran Edward James Olmos told EFE that sharing the stage with Rivera was an "incredible" experience. "Working with her was a dream because it was the first time that she had done dramatic acting and she was incredible. We were very happy to work together," he said. Sharing that opinion is Rodriguez, who added: "Everyone who loves and adores Jenni Rivera has been able to see who she was. Working with her was a blessing. Each day I have to give thanks for having worked with her." Jenni Rivera had the chance to see ‘Filly Brown’ during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. "When we saw the film at Sundance, she loved it. She saw it for the first time with people and understood that (her role) unified the plot of the film," Olmos said. IANS