Luminaria Films has launched production on the feature "Spoken Word" based on Joe Ray Sandoval's poetry reports Variety.

The story follows a San Francisco spoken-word artist returning to New Mexico to be with his dying father, only to find he loses his "voice" as he is sucked back in to the dysfunctional life of drugs and violence he left behind.

Kuno Becker, Ruben Blades, Miguel Sandoval and Persia White star. Blades is taking a leave of absence from his post as minister of tourism in Panama, where he's served for the past four years.

Victor Nunez ("Coastlines," "Ulee's Gold") directs from a screenplay by Bill Conway & Sandoval.