Hollywood goes to Arizona for the ‘Spare Parts’ premiere

It’s the perfect underdog story, and it involves a group of Mexican immigrants. Four undocumented high school students from Phoenix go on to win a national underwater robotics competition, beating students from some of the nation’s top colleges and universities.

SEE ALSO: ‘La Vida Robot’ shows how four undocumented students beat the odds

That happened more than a decade ago. And on Tuesday, a Hollywood film based on the students’ unbelievable story premiered in Tempe, Ariz., just a few miles away from Carl Hayden Community High School, where the story first began. The film is titled “Spare Parts” and is set to open in theaters Jan. 16. It was previously titled “La Vida Robot.”

“It’s really hard to describe it,” Lorenzo Santillan, one of the four members of the 2004 Falcon Robotics Team, said when asked how he felt to see hundreds show up Tuesday to see the film. “It’s hard to put into words how I feel knowing that there are so many people in this theater who came to see our story.”

Santillan was seated in the lower part of the theater and was joined by his parents. His mother, Laura Barrera, said she felt “very excited” to see the film with her son.

The film tells the story of how Santillan—along with Oscar Vazquez, Luis Aranda and Cristian Arcega—were only high school students when they won first place in a national robotics competition held at Santa Barbara, Calif., in 2004. They beat students from some of the most prestigious colleges and universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Beyond the competition, the film shows some of the troubles the students faced because of their undocumented status. It also shows how poverty affected the lives of many of the students attending Carl Hayden Community High School at the time.

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Comedian George Lopez stars in the film and is one of the producers. He was present at the “Spare Parts” premiere. He plays a combination of the two real-life teachers of the robotics team. Other leading actors in the film include Jamie Lee Curtis, Marisa Tomei and Carlos Pena Vega.

When asked why he decided to play a serious role in this film, Lopez said he did it because he was captivated by the students’ story and felt that he “had to take a chance.”

“This is a movie that will stand the test of time, and it will always be something that you’ll be able to show other people,” he added. “And when someone says that you can’t, you can say ‘si se puede.’”

The film shows how the four students were only able to fundraise $800 to build their underwater robot, which they named “Stinky.” Meanwhile, their opponents fundraised thousands to build their robots.

And while the other teams used top-notch tools and materials to build their underwater robots, the Falcon Robotics Team used everyday materials to build theirs. For example, they used PVC pipes that they bought at Home Depot and assembled them using rubber glue.

SEE ALSO: LATINOS WANTED: Push for Hispanics in STEM Careers

Despite the obstacles, the four students beat the odds and won the competition. But it wasn’t until months after the competition that their story went public thanks to journalist Joshua Davis.

Davis, who attended Tuesday’s “Spare Parts” premiere, recalled the moment he first read an “unusual” email depicting how the Falcon Robotics Team won the national competition.

He said there was something about the story that peaked his curiosity, so he flew to Phoenix to interview the team. Several months later, in April 2005, he published an article on Wired magazine about the team’s incredible story.

“This is actually a nice book end for that experience that began exactly 10 years ago,” Davis said, referring to Tuesday’s premiere of “Spare Parts.”

Fredi Lajvardi, one of the two robotics team teachers, said he still finds it hard to believe the film is finally complete, after 10 years in the making.

“It’s like a dream come true,” Lajvardi said. “For a while there it looked like it wasn’t going to be made, and I was thinking I’m going to have to buy a video camera and make the movie myself. But I didn’t have to do that, which is great.”

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