Writer-director Richard Montoya on the set of Water & Power . Photo by Rafael Cárdenas. By Abel Salas It’s just after 10:30pm on 1st Street in Boyle Heights. Richard Montoya arrives in his trademark sombrero campesino with Francisco Hernández, who is playing taxi tonight because Montoya’s vintage Cadillac hit the skids earlier during the week on his way to a City Hall Water & Power presentation with Council Member Gil Cedillo and Edward James Olmos.  Hernández and Montoya go back, a long way back back far enough for Hernández to have been the natural choice for the assistant director slot on Water & Power , the debut feature written and directed by Montoya. Hernández wears a blazer with a silkscreened image of a ten-point buck across the back shoulders. The image is an early graphic representation of the film when it was still a work in progress. Tonight, Montoya carries a makeshift swag bag with posters and post cards announcing the film’s wide release on May 2nd.

Adelina Anthony as Yoli in Bruising for Besos . Photo by Marissa Becerra.  Interview by Karla Legaspy Adelina, you are the writer, director, co producer and starring actor in our film Bruising for Besos. That is a lot of responsibilities. How do you juggle the different hats you have to carry and still have the energy to focus on the creative process of writing or acting? Bueno, figuring out the hustle of when and how to juggle multiple demands has been part of my queer Xicana artist life for well over 20 years now, especially if you want to preserve a vision or keep the integrity of a project.  The demands never cease, but what I figured out over the years is that the creative part of my life comes first.  Meaning, I give my writing or acting the first hour(s) of my workdays.  I meet the rest of the responsibilities by setting priorities and delegating duties to other team members. Y honestamente if I want the energy to actually do the work, I make sure to get my seven to eig