Talking Pictures Films Showing on Thursday, September 29 CLASS MATE by Javier Marco—A man and a woman meet on a bus. She’s an engineer and she’s married. He’s homeless. How did you find yourself getting into filmmaking? I’ve been a filmmaker since I was 18-yearsold. My first two short films were done with my friends and were amateur. But since then, I’ve made 6 professional short films. Also, when I was a child, I loved to go to the movies and always knew I wanted to be a director and tell stories. What inspired you to make this film? Last year, when we attended the Almeria International Film Festival, I met actor Jimmy Shaw. I saw his latest short film and I really like his acting. So I asked him if we could make a short film with him as the lead. He gave me his mobile number and said “yeas!” So screenwriter Belén Sánchez-Arévalo wrote the script for him. Also, we always wanted to shoot a short film in English, so we knew this was our opportunity. We wanted to make a short film where the most important thing is the acting; that’s why we wanted to work with Jimmy Shaw and Melina Matthews. What do you hope to achieve with this film? With “Classmate,” we would like to achieve two things. The first is to be screened at many film festivals, so people can watch it. And the second thing, we are working on our first feature, so I want to show “Classmate” to the producer, so he can trust us, since the feature has many things in common with “Classmate.” What’s next in your career? As I said before, we are working on our first feature, which will be finished within a month. Then we’ll search for a production company. In the meanwhile, we are going to shoot another short film in September and now are in the pre-production stage. The most important thing is staying active, never stop shooting and learning new ways of filmmaking. Continued from Page 14 BIG BOY by Yuri Solodov—In order for a 6-year-old boy to receive his birthday present, he must prove he’s grown up by completing a mission: a first-ever trip to the store alone to buy bread. Will he pass the test? How did you find yourself getting into filmmaking? First, I wanted to be a writer. Write stories. But the work of a writer does not bring money. I began to write the script for TV series. Since 2000, I have been a working screenwriter. But I would like to retrain as a director. My temperament requires a more active lifestyle. What inspired you to make this film? I really wanted to make a short film, but I did not have the budget. I needed a story that could be done very cheap. I remembered a story that happened to a friend of mine. When his son was 6-years-old, he sent the boy for the first time for bread. I thought, “This story can be told in the street with just two actors.” I think, “I can do it.” What do you hope to achieve with this film? To declare himself as a director, you need a business card. I view “Big Boy” as my business card. What’s next in your career? Director’s proposals for a feature film or festival I have not yet received. So I’m going to shoot my next short film. What else is left for me? This is a film about a family again. But it will be a drama. Adult son. The old father. Their relationship. Male version Ingmar Bergman’s “Autumn Sonata.” I hope that I can find the budget for this story. HEAT WAVE by Lucía Valverde— Europe and its clichés are brought to the fore in this delightful comedy about a German/Spanish couple living in Luxembourg and the first Fatherin Law’s visit during a heat wave. How did you find yourself getting into filmmaking? Films and cinema have fascinated me since I can remember. I grew up in a cold Luxembourg, so one of my favorite free-time activities was to go to the cinema. I always knew I wanted to do films, so I studied audio-visual communication and cinema and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since! What inspired you to make this film? HEAT WAVE is based on an anecdote that happened to my father when he was around my age now. It’s the anecdote; he’s told it to the family millions of times and we’ve always laughed a lot with it. I wanted to make it into a short film since I was 16, when I wrote the first draft of the screenplay. Fortunately, I waited a few years, so I had enough experience to make a good film. The key was to mix the true story with the multicultural and multilingual experience of living in Luxembourg; I think it is a successful combination that works very well with the audience. What do you hope to achieve with this film? I hope to make people laugh and spend a good time watching it. There is no bigger reward when you film a comedy than to see the audience laugh and enjoy your work. What’s next in your career? I am in the middle of quite a variety of projects… another short film (two, actually); a sitcom; a feature film screenplay in development; and a documentary. We’ll see which one comes out first! But one thing is sure: I will be in this business for a long time! 48 North Shore Towers Courier n September 2016
NST092016
To see the actual publication please follow the link above