The true story of a man torn between love for his family, passion for music, and a dream of a better life in America, the HBO Films presentation FOR LOVE OR COUNTRY: THE ARTURO SANDOVAL STORY stars Andy Garcia (nominated for an Academy Award&#174 and Golden Globe for "The Godfather Part III").

Arturo Sandoval, a brilliant Cuban trumpet player, sacrifices his opportunity to defect when he falls in love with Marianela, a beautiful government employee loyal to the state, and resolves to provide his family with the best life possible under the oppressive Castro government. But when he is no longer able to perform the music he loves, Sandoval and his wife devise a desperate plan to defect with the help of music legend Dizzy Gillespie.

Debuting SATURDAY, NOV. 18 at 9:00 p.m. (ET), the HBO Films presentation also stars Mia Maestro ("Tango"), Gloria Estefan ("Music of the Heart"), David Paymer ("Quiz Show," HBO's "Crime of the Century") and Charles S. Dutton ("Roc," Emmy&#174-winner for directing HBO's "The Corner").

Other playdates: Nov. 21 (noon, 9:00 p.m.), 26 (1:00 p.m., 10:30 p.m.) and 29 (5:45 p.m.), and Dec. 4 (4:00 p.m., 11:40 p.m.), 9 (4:30 p.m.) and 12 (11:30 p.m.).

Directed by Joseph Sargent (HBO's "A Lesson Before Dying" and "Miss Evers' Boys"), FOR LOVE OR COUNTRY: THE ARTURO SANDOVAL STORY is an HBO Films presentation of a CineSon Production in association with Jellybean Productions, Inc., a Joseph Sargent Film. The executive producers are Andy Garcia and Jellybean Benitez; the producer is Celia Costas; and Carl Valldejuli co-produces from a script by Tim Sexton.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
For Arturo Sandoval, a film based on his life is yet another dream realized. "I am the luckiest man in the world and have truly been blessed," he proclaims. "I have a beautiful family; I am able to make a living from a career I am passionate about; and I live in a country where I am free to think and speak about what I want. The film is just another wonderful thing to come my way. I hope it can somehow provide inspiration.

"I'm very happy with the fact that Andy Garcia is playing me in this film," Sandoval continues. "He has all the tools to be my first choice: He is Cuban, he's very musical, and he's good-looking, so he makes me look better in the movie!"

Garcia was introduced to Sandoval's music back in the '70s, when Sandoval was making records with Irakere, the Cuban jazz group he co-founded. Garcia finally met him in person at a party in 1990 following Sandoval's defection to the United States, and they subsequently ran into each other from time to time.

When HBO Films informed Garcia that they were developing a movie along with Jellybean Benitez based on Sandoval's life, Garcia was quick to express an interest, not only as an actor portraying someone he admires, but also as an executive producer. "Music is a great passion of mine, a great part of my life," explains Garcia. "Being involved in a project from that point of view -- helping to produce the music, playing on the pre-records -- you know, it's a great joy. I feel like a kid in a candy shop."

Shooting FOR LOVE OR COUNTRY: THE ARTURO SANDOVAL STORY gave Garcia a chance to relive his earlier years. "We were filming in one Miami location that was within a two-block radius of where I grew up," recounted Garcia. "It was an amazing feeling to be back in the neighborhood 26 years later, shooting a movie. And by coincidence, it was my birthday, so it was for me a rather special day."

Garcia adds, "The subject matter of this project is very dear to my heart in the sense that I am also a Cuban exile, although I arrived in the United States at a much earlier age than Arturo did. The same is true for Gloria Estefan."

Multi-platinum singer Estefan has enjoyed a long professional and personal history with Sandoval. "Arturo's a good friend," she notes. "He has performed on many of my records, beginning with 'Mi Tiera' way back in 1992. His story is very inspirational, and it is the type of material that interests me, as far as acting is concerned.

"People know a lot about me and I think for an actor that's not good sometimes. The bottom line is, it is harder for them to believe you're someone else. Because of that, this role is a great challenge for me, but I am having a great time with it."

Also having a great time on the project was Charles S. Dutton, who plays jazz icon and Sandoval supporter Dizzy Gillespie. "There are no words to describe it," he notes. "I mean, it is an honor to reincarnate Dizzy Gillespie. I am fortunate enough to have known him personally, having lived a couple of blocks from him in New Jersey. I actually met him during my first Broadway show, 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.' In that play, I had to learn how to play the trumpet. When Diz showed up for a performance one night, I screwed up on some notes."

Commenting on the script, Dutton says, "One of the most wonderful lines is when Gillespie asks Sandoval to tour with him, and Sandoval says he isn't sure if he can. Dizzy's response is 'Your sound doesn't belong to you, it belongs to the world.' "

Executive producer Jellybean Benitez, who is best known as one of pop music's most celebrated creative forces, was taken with the love story of Arturo and Marianela Sandoval. "I think it's very interesting that two people who had very different political beliefs and were raised in different ways managed to fall in love so deeply," notes Benitez. "Sandoval's wife Marianela went from being pro-Castro to being more anti-Castro than Arturo, if that's possible."

The real Arturo and Marianela Sandoval spent a great deal of time on set, which helped both Garcia and Mia Maestro develop their characters and deliver a poignant portrayal of the Sandoval romance. "Andy and Mia had instant chemistry," comments director Joseph Sargent. "They are both very giving actors, which is essential to the love story. In real life, Arturo and Marianela are quite a love story themselves. They have a wonderful, passionate relationship. I hope our audience agrees that we have captured that."

FOR LOVE OR COUNTRY: THE ARTURO SANDOVAL STORY was filmed in Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico, just as the Elian Gonzalez case was beginning to dominate the headlines. Producer Celia Costas observed the passion of Miami's Cuban population during filming. "We were using a prop plane in our airport scene that was mistaken by some to be a government plane sent to take Elian back to Cuba," she recalls. "Within a short time there was a flood of media calls to airport officials. Once we explained who we were and what we were doing, we were able to convince them what was actually happening.

"We have three high-profile people affiliated with our project who also happen to be Cuban defectors: Andy Garcia, Arturo Sandoval and Gloria Estefan. For that reason alone, there was great interest in our project, especially on a local level, even as the Elian Gonzalez story was unfolding."

SYNOPSIS
Athens, Greece, 1990. In a packed club, 70-year-old American jazz icon Dizzy Gillespie [Charles S. Dutton] trades exuberant trumpet solos with the man he calls "my Cuban son," 38-year-old sensation Arturo Sandoval [Andy Garcia]. The audience -- and Sandoval's Castro-appointed bodyguards -- are unaware that after the gig, Sandoval and Gillespie will visit the U.S. Embassy to request Sandoval's defection. Answering questions from the embassy interviewer [David Paymer], Sandoval responds with a look back.

It's 1974. Working for a state-sanctioned orchestra composed of some of Cuba's finest musicians, Sandoval languishes in bogus gigs, such as playing back-up for the visiting Russian circus. The uninspired notes he plays strengthen his resolve to quit the state band. Later, at the Minister of Culture's office, Sandoval and three other musicians &#151 Chucho Valdez [Nicky Farrell], Paquito D'Rivera [Jose Zuniga] and Oscar Valdez [Robert Wisdom] &#151 are chided for their attraction to "Yankee-style jazz," but find a way to form a new band they call Irakere (Nigerian for "jungle") by camouflaging their sound.

As the band's reputation grows, the government starts subsidizing tours abroad, taking 100% of the profit. For Sandoval, the idea of defection becomes increasingly attractive, until he meets Marianela [Mia Maestro], a beautiful government worker. Despite their initial political differences (Sandoval has repeatedly refused to join the Communist Party, and spent four months in an army prison for listening to the Voice of America), and ignoring suspicions that Marianela might be a spy, he falls in love. The night before Irakere goes abroad on tour, Marianela agrees to spend the night with Sandoval if he promises never to return to Cuba. A few weeks later, however, he's back. "It's the last promise I'll ever break to you," he says.

Sandoval meets Marianela's family, facing initial hostility from her father Sosa [Tomas Milian] and 8-year-old son Leonel [Andhy Mendez] from a previous marriage. Marianela also learns that Sandoval was once married to Alba Marina, a well-known opera singer. After Sandoval reassures Marianela that his love is genuine, the two marry, and nine months later their son Turi is born.

Musically, Dizzy Gillespie is Arturo's greatest influence, and when Arturo learns the jazz legend is on a ship docked in the Havana harbor, he rushes over in an ancient family car and offers to chauffeur his American friend around town. Scorning an "official chauffeur" from the government, Gillespie accepts.

That night, as Gillespie arrives at the Irakere performance, he is surprised to find Sandoval leading the jam and asks, "What's my driver doing playing a trumpet?" Impressed, he invites Sandoval to go on tour with him. After Gillespie leaves Cuba, Sandoval tries to start another band, but his request is denied. When he asks his friend Angel [Steven Bauer], who runs the Hotel Nacional ballroom, to help him get a gig, Angel explains that it would be a lot easier if he would join the Communist Party. "It's just a piece of paper," Angel says, and urges him to sign. However, Sandoval refuses and grows increasingly angry with the Party.

Arturo and Marianela are visited by Sally [Fionnula Flanagan] and Johnny Lewis [Michael O'Hagan], a British couple who run a famous London jazz club and have become huge fans of Sandoval. After the Lewises invite them to England, Arturo and Marianela are questioned by hard-edged police agent Osvaldo [Miguel Sandoval] about their "pattern of counter-revolutionary behavior."

That night, at a Hotel Nacional ballroom gig, Sandoval and his band launch into a celebratory song, Leonel [Freddy Rodriquez] dances with his new love Paloma [Fernanda Andrade] and Osvaldo orders Angel not to use the band in the future. Disgusted, Sandoval temporarily abandons his trumpet - and his wife discovers she can't live in communist Cuba anymore.

The Sandovals soon realize that Arturo's hard-line strategy won't get them out of Cuba, so he finally joins the Party and says all the right things about Castro and the government at performances. Obviously, he has done his job well: His stepson Leonel is disgusted with Arturo's public support of Castro. But Arturo and Marianela -- who are distressed because they have finally received permission to travel with their child Turi [Felix David Manrique], but not with Leonel, who is of military age -- can't reveal their intentions to anyone.

They proceed with their plan to defect, and Arturo leaves first, joining Gillespie on tour. Marianela flies to London with Turi.

As Sandoval wraps up his interview in Athens with no promise of a visa, he learns that the Cuban government has been told of his imminent defection. Worried about the safety of his wife, he wakes up Dizzy in the middle of the night to ask for help. No problem: Gillespie is friendly with U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle.

Back in Cuba, Osvaldo visits Leonel and orders him to call to his mother, asking her to return, but the elated Leonel refuses. Within hours, both Arturo and Marianela are on separate planes for the United States.

An addendum reveals: "A year later, Marianela's father traveled to the U.S. by plane. Arturo's parents made their journey by boat and were rescued off the Florida shore. Because Paloma's father was a U.S. citizen, she and Leonel, who are now married, were allowed to emigrate. The family lives in exile in Miami, 90 miles from their homeland."

BIOS
Actor and executive producer Andy Garcia (Arturo Sandoval) received Best Supporting Actor Oscar&#174 and Golden Globe nominations for his role in 1990's "The Godfather Part III." His other acting credits include "Internal Affairs," "Just the Ticket," "Black Rain," "Night Falls on Manhattan," "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead," "The Untouchables," "Hero," "The Mean Season," "Desperate Measures," "Jennifer 8," "8 Million Ways to Die," "Hoodlum," "Dead Again," "The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca," "When a Man Loves a Woman" and "Stand and Deliver." Garcia also counts "Swing Vote" and the HBO original movie "Clinton and Nadine" among his TV credits.

As a founder of CineSon Productions, Garcia co-executive produced "Swing Vote," and produced "Just the Ticket," starring opposite Andie MacDowell. Under the CineSon banner he made his directorial debut with "Cachao...Como Su Ritmo No Hay Dos" ("Like His Rhythm There Is No Other"), a feature-length documentary concert film on renowned Cuban bass player and composer Israel Lopez "Cachao," co-creator of the Mambo. Following the Cachao film, he also produced and performed on volumes I and II of "Cachao -- Master Sessions," the former a 1994 Grammy Award winner and the latter a 1995 Grammy nominee, and "Cachao-Cuba Linda," released last March. All three releases are CineSon productions.

Mia Maestro's (Marianela Sandoval) credits include the 1998 Academy Award&#174-nominated Best Foreign Language Film "Tango," as well as "Picking Up the Pieces," with Woody Allen and Sharon Stone, "Time Code" and "Venice Biennale," with Lauren Bacall, Dennis Hopper and Stockard Channing.

Gloria Estefan (Emilia) has scored 11 multi-platinum albums since releasing her first American solo album, the triple-platinum "Primitive Love" in 1985, and has just released "Alma Caribe&#241a" ("Caribbean Soul"). Estefan appeared in the feature film "Music of the Heart" and headlined the 1996 HBO special "Gloria Estefan: The Evolution Tour Live from Miami."

David Paymer (interviewer) has appeared on the big screen in such films as "Quiz Show," "Amistad," "An American President," "Get Shorty" and "Mr. Saturday Night." His also had a recurring role in the HBO series "The Larry Sanders Show" and appeared in the HBO original movie "Crime of the Century."

Charles S. Dutton (Dizzy Gillespie) starred in and executive produced the hit TV series "Roc." He recently won an Emmy&#174 for directing the acclaimed HBO miniseries "The Corner" and also directed the HBO original movie "First Time Felon," and executive produced the HBO miniseries "Laurel Avenue." Among his other acting credits are the Emmy Award&#174-winning miniseries "The Murder of Mary Phagan," "Cookie's Fortune," "Random Hearts," "A Time to Kill," "Mimic," "Blind Faith," "Get on the Bus" and "Menace II Society."

Joseph Sargent has directed a number of Emmy Award&#174-winning projects, including HBO's "A Lesson Before Dying" and "Miss Evers' Boys," plus "Miss Rose White," "Caroline," "Love Is Never Silent" and "The Incident." His other credits include "Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment," "The Wall," "Mandela and de Klerk," "The Streets of Laredo" and "My Antonia."

Executive producer Jellybean Benitez is the founder of his own record label, Jellybean Recordings, the premier dance label in the U.S., and the music publishing company JB Music Publishing. He has produced/remixed more than 90 Top 10 hits and 30 Number One records, producing such top talents as Madonna, Whitney Houston and Marc Anthony. Benitez has also had a successful career as a music supervisor for such films as "Carlito's Way," "Species" and "The Shadow." In addition, he is executive producer, along with John Leguizamo, of the documentary "Nuyorican Dream," which debuted on Cinemax in October, and he is associate producer of the upcoming feature film "Angel Eyes," starring Jennifer Lopez.

Producer Celia Costas' credits include HBO's "A Lesson Before Dying," as well as the feature films "28 Days," "Private Parts" and "Meet Joe Black."

Co-producer Carl Valldejuli has received two Grammy Awards, three Billboard Awards and two Jazz Poll Awards for his production work.

Screenwriter Tim Sexton's credits include "Ruthless," "Cinderella" and "Billy Please Come Home, We Need You."

Since his arrival in the United States, Arturo Sandoval has received 12 Grammy nominations, winning three. A founding member of the Cuban group Irakere, Sandoval won his first Grammy in 1978; during his tenure with Irakere Sandoval began his life-altering friendship with Dizzy Gillespie. In the decade since his defection Sandoval has performed at the Super Bowl halftime show, the Grammy Awards and the Oscars. He maintains one of the most extensive worldwide tour schedules in the industry, and is also a tenured professor at Florida International University.

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