When we talk about the actresses who defined Mexico’s Golden Age of Cinema, one name stands towering above all the rest — and you know we’re talking about María Félix. Over the course of 30-plus years, the Sonoran-born María de los Ángeles Félix Güereña starred in dozens of features and television series, and went on to become a veritable icon of Mexican culture. So if you’re going to do a biopic about her, you’d better do it right. Which is why all eyes are currently on director Fausto Alatorre Betancourt, who has announced he is in development on a biopic about La Doña titled Diabla.
In case you’re already looking him up, don’t bother — Alatorre has never before directed a feature film, but the man has dedicated over a decade of his life to researching the life and legacy of María Bonita. His fascination first led him to draft a biographical novel that then became the source material for his screenplay. It’s an ambitious undertaking for a first-time director, so we can only hope the man is a cinematic genius just waiting to be born or at the very least, a technically solid helmer.
Working with producer Walter Navas, Alatorre recently announced that they have found their María in the form of Tapatía actress and model Elsa Ortiz. If the film moves forward, this could be a career-making role for the relative unknown; assuming, of course, that she has the chops to incarnate a true goddess of the Mexican screen. So far it seems the production has 25% of their desired budget, so they have a long way to go before kicking off production later this year. Fingers crossed.
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