Director Chris Weitz to discuss 'A Better Life' at ASU

Arizona State University's Comparative Border Studies will screen the film "A Better Life" at its first Fall Film Event, Nov. 15-16, and director Chris Weitz will be on hand to discuss the film.

The film will be presented at 7 p.m., Nov. 15, at the Phoenix Art Museum, 1625 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, and at 5 p.m., Nov. 16, in Coor Hall room 199 on ASU's Tempe campus. Both events are free and open to the public, but an R.S.V.P. is encouraged at sts.asu.edu/FallFilm.

"A Better Life," which stars Demián Bichir as Carlos, a gardener in East Los Angeles, is the story of a father who is determined to move out of the city in order to get his teenage son away from gangs and into a decent school. With immigration agents on every corner, and gangsters trying to lure the son into a life of crime, Carlos struggles to survive.

Weitz, a producer, writer and director, worked with his brother, Paul Weitz, on the comedy films "American Pie" and "About a Boy." He directed "New Moon," based on the second novel in the best-selling "Twilight" series.

Weitz is the son of actress Susan Kohner and novelist/fashion designer John Weitz. His grandmother, the Mexican actress Lupita Tovar, starred in "Santa," Mexico's first "talkie," released in 1932.

Comparative Border Studies, within the School of Transborder Studies, is a research initiative designed to bring scholars, artists and the public together to discuss and debate issues pertaining to geopolitical borders.

The events sponsored by Comparative Border Studies will explore a range of topics such as security, immigration, wealth creation, trade relations, cultural production, health and environmental management and bicultural/binational education.

Comparative Border Studies, which was launched Oct. 13, 2011, has set research and study themes for the next three years. The inaugural theme is the Arizona-Sonora borderlands. The theme in 2012-2013 will be a regional comparison between borders in North America, and in 2013-2014, the focus will be on the study of borders on a global scale.

For more information about Comparative Border Studies or the film series, contact Elizabeth Cantú, (979) 492-7502, or Elizabeth.Cantu@asu.edu. Or, go to borders.asu.edu.