Sunday, May 22, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Artist Spotlight: Filmmaker Iria Gomez Concheiro, Mexico City
It’s indeed a special night for the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. As fans pour into the building and lines begin to build, one can’t help but be impressed by the allure that the “Latin Wave” Film Festival creates. The smiles on the faces of the eager ticket holders waiting outside of the auditorium is a stout affirmation of the power of the festival. But as the excitement and anticipation builds outside of the auditorium, it reflected even more profoundly by one person inside the auditorium: Latin American Filmmaker, Iria Gomez Concheiro. Largely, because it is Concheiro’s film, “Asalto al cine (The Cinema Hold-Up),” that is being premiered tonight. As she takes the podium and introduces the feature film that took 7 years, working 9 hours a day to make. The film, which premiered at many international festivals including Sundance, tells the story of four teens in Mexico who struggle to find their place in a world that is failing all around them. Amidst their pain and anguish, they decide that the only real way to change their lives is to hold up their local cinema. Concheiro, after the film, took time to discuss the creative aspects of the film:
Q: How many of the actors were professional actors?
A: Only one actor was professional. The other three were not. But it never crossed their minds that they couldn't do it.
A: Only one actor was professional. The other three were not. But it never crossed their minds that they couldn't do it.
Q: Do you have a particular motivation when making films?
A: As a film maker, I do have a motivation. I do have something to say that I hope that you as the audience receive. This film shows a problem that reflects how the state has given up on the youth and how they are forced to fend for themselves. I think that the young people really see that they have no way out for their dreams and to reflect this emptiness they resolve to violence.
A: As a film maker, I do have a motivation. I do have something to say that I hope that you as the audience receive. This film shows a problem that reflects how the state has given up on the youth and how they are forced to fend for themselves. I think that the young people really see that they have no way out for their dreams and to reflect this emptiness they resolve to violence.
Q: What do you think is the answer to the world that these children grew up in?
A: I don’t have the answer, but I hope that between all of us, we can find the answer.
A: I don’t have the answer, but I hope that between all of us, we can find the answer.
Q: Why did you choose to use a movie theater as the setting for the heist to take place?
A: It’s just a pretext; it could have been a bank or a store. I actually collect old newspaper articles, and one of them I found was “movie style hold up.” Though it was quite absurd, and the whole description was kind of strange, I felt I could use it as a pretext for the story. In a way I also had to hold up the cinema, it took me 7 years to make the film.
A: It’s just a pretext; it could have been a bank or a store. I actually collect old newspaper articles, and one of them I found was “movie style hold up.” Though it was quite absurd, and the whole description was kind of strange, I felt I could use it as a pretext for the story. In a way I also had to hold up the cinema, it took me 7 years to make the film.
Q: How did you decide on where to shoot the film?
A: I got involved with the people in the neighborhoods about 4 years before the film. So when we went to shoot, it was like being at home. We shot in the Guerro neighborhood, which was in the historical district.
A: I got involved with the people in the neighborhoods about 4 years before the film. So when we went to shoot, it was like being at home. We shot in the Guerro neighborhood, which was in the historical district.
Q: How did you bring such reality into the story?
A: We really tried to bring the fiction into reality and not the reality into the fiction. The drama from the film is within; we didn’t need any factors from the outside. The nothingness happening in these children’s life is the tragedy.
A: We really tried to bring the fiction into reality and not the reality into the fiction. The drama from the film is within; we didn’t need any factors from the outside. The nothingness happening in these children’s life is the tragedy.
Asalto al Cine, starring Gabino Rodriguez, Juan Pablo de Santiago, Angel Sosa, and Paulina Avalos is playing now.
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