Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is the newest motion picture to hit the scene, and you don’t want to miss it. Set in 1980s El Paso, Texas, it is a story about two Mexican American boys and their unique friendship and ultimately their relationship. This classic coming of age film is based on the popular young adult novel written by Benjamin Alire Sáenz and was released September 8th, so if you haven’t already seen it, make sure you add it to your watchlist.
We sat down with the writer and director of the film, Aitch Alberto, and were deeply inspired by both the story behind the creation of this film as well as the emotion that was brought to the surface with this incredible story. Tune into this interview with Alberto as she dives deeper into her favorite moments of the filming process as well as what it was like to face complex challenges while filming and telling this emotionally charged story with such culturally significant characters.
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Aristotle and Dante Discover the Universe is a film adapted from by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, about two teenage boys who meet over the summer at their local pool and instantly have a connection despite their different interests. The boys start to spend lots of time together until Dante reveals that his family will be moving to Chicago for the upcoming school year because of his father’s job. The same day that he shares this devastating news with Ari, the two boys find themselves in the middle of the road when a car comes speeding around the corner. Ari ends up saving Dante’s life by pushing him out of the way leaving himself extremely injured, however this seems to truly strengthen their relationship and leaves them deciding to continue their story the next summer when they can be together. They resume their friendship the following summer, but it becomes increasingly evident that Dante is in love with Ari and it takes a lot of life lessons for Ari to ultimately realize that he might just love Dante too. This iconic, queer love story is beautiful, emotional and everything you could ask for from a film like this.
Here is a little bit more information on our interviewee writer and director Aitch Alberto. Being from the great city of Miami, Florida, she comes from rich Latin American culture. This story, being one of her first feature film, has done exceedingly well and has opened opportunities for nominations for awards in categories such as “Directors to watch”, “New Voices” and the “New Visions Grand Jury Prize”. Additionally, she’s a Sundance Episodic Lab fellow, a Latino Screenwriting Project Fellowship, and she is also an alumnus of the Outfest Screenwriting Lab. She has broken so many boundaries and made a name for herself in the world of film and we were so honored to get to speak with her about Aristotle and Dante Discover the Universe.
One thing that we were able to talk about with her was the love that was put into this film both on screen and off. Being that this is a story about finding out how to be ok with your true self, she explained that this plotline shared a lot of factors with her own life and her own struggles. This relatability made the set atmosphere feel incredibly personal and created a safe “space where everyone had a voice” Alberto says. She discusses the characters in this movie and the connection to each of them and how that plays a role in the film as a whole.
Overall, this movie is an absolutely beautiful adaptation of the novel and tells a story that has yet to be told in a setting such as this. Director Aitch Alberto has done an incredible job of bringing these two characters to life in Aristotle and Dante Discover the Universe. Thank you so much again to Aitch Alberto, for sitting down with us and sharing about this beautiful project! For more info on this new movie follow her on Instagram @aitchalberto and make sure to leave a like and comment on our interview below!
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