MI VIDA LOCA is a compelling look at a microcosm of East L.A.'s Echo Park. Writer and director Allison Anders (GAS FOOD LODGING) lived in the neighborhood for many years with her daughter, inspiring her to make this film about life in a Latina girl gang. The film is sympathetic to these young women, presenting their stories honestly and with a visual flair that the subjects themselves would probably appreciate. The stories are told as a series of vignettes with different narrators, each with his or her perspective on the events portrayed. This approach allows the characters the opportunity to explain their actions, giving the audience a better understanding of behavior they might otherwise easily condemn. The key players are Mousie (Seidy Lopez) and Sad Girl (Angel Aviles), best friends who let local drug dealer Ernesto (Jacob Vargas) come between them. The film is a wonderfully realized slice-of-life: sometimes tragic, sometimes funny, and, despite its seemingly incongruously elegeiac tone, with a strong ring of truth.

An acclaimed drama from director Allison Anders (GAS FOOD LODGING), MI VIDA LOCA examines the life of a Latina girl gang in East L.A. The story is told in strong
performances from each of the girls, and includes the perspectives of other peripheral characters in their world, buoyed by Anders's signature visual flair and reflecting the director's empathy with her subjects.

Theatrical release: August 12, 1994.

The film was shot on location in Echo Park, Los Angeles, California.

Latin rapper Kid Frost has a small role as the father of Sad Girl (Angel Aviles).

Allison Anders's occasional collaborator Kurt Voss (SUGAR TOWN) makes an appearance as a cop.

Actor-director Spike Jonze (BEING JOHN MALKOVICH) and actor Jason Lee (ALMOST FAMOUS) have brief cameos as two junkies trying to get Ernesto (Jacob Vargas) to take their CD collection in exchange for drugs.

Director Nicole Holofcener (WALKING AND TALKING) plays a guard at the prison in the scene in which Giggles (Marlo Marron) is released.

The poem the mysterious ex-con sends to La Blue Eyes (Magali Alvarado) is from Pablo Neruda's THE CAPTAIN'S VERSES.

DVD Features:

Region 1
Keep Case
Full Frame- 1.33

Seidy Lopez: Actress/"Mi Vida Loca"
Angel Aviles: Actress/"Mi Vida Loca"
Jacob Vargas: Actor/"Mi Vida Loca"
Marlo Marron: Actress/"My Crazy Life"
Jesse Borrego: Native American Actor
Magali Alvarado: 
Julian Reyes: 

Allison Anders: American Director/Screenwriter

"...A vivid tale..."
"...Vibrantly alive....Anders remains a rare and vital talent..."
"...Anders tries what few directors would have had the interest of intelligence to think of....Daring..."
"...An ensemble of superior actors....Clarity and a lot of heart." -- Rating: A-
"...Many observed touches....The sense of authenticity blazes with warmth..."
"...What we do get is a vivid impression of these young women and their world..."