Fernando Garcia

Fernando Garcia (born April 3, 1983) is a Portuguese-American film director, best known for his Indy Spanish-Language film, "¡Viva La Bensenville!", based on the story of two immigrants from Mexico who fall in love in Bensenville, Illinois, a small suburb of Chicago.
Early Life and Career
Garcia was born in Bensenville, Illinois, a suburb located roughly fifteen miles outside of the city of Chicago. Born to Jose Garcia, a Mexican-American oncologist, and Beatrice (née Czynzynski), a Polish-American drama teacher, Fernando is said to be named after the ABBA hit, "Fernando", of which his parents were big fans.
Garcia attended Fenton High School for two years before his family relocated to Sintra, Portugal. Despite being only sixteen years old, Garcia, who could not speak Portuguese at the time, opted to discontinue his studies in favor of immersing himself in the arts. By age eighteen, Fernando had already made quite a name for himself amongst the Lisboan artist community. In 2003 at age twenty, Fernando began filming his most popular film, "¡Viva La Bensenville!", based on his childhood. Filming was halted briefly due to the illness of his long-time girlfriend, Rosie. In 2004, filming resumed and was eventually completed. Many in the Lisboan film community agree that Garcia has created a new style of film, one that many critics are dubbing the "Abrigado" school of film. Garcia's next film, "Mexico 2000 y Hotcakes", the story of two restaurant workers, was released in 2006 without much fanfair.

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