How did you get into making films?
Cinema interested me since I was a child but I saw it as something distant, unattainable. After many years of dedicating myself to theatre, I made up my mind and moved to Buenos Aires to study filmmaking. It was only then that I started writing my own scripts and filming short films.
What inspired you to make your movie?
My film talks about a provincial actor frustrated by the lack of opportunities. This is what happens with artists who try to exercise their profession in small places. That is an experience that I know very well and it touches me closely. From there, I imagined a lonely and self-destructive character (an actor over forty) suffering from a lack of professional achievement. Instead of going in search of opportunities to bigger cities, he does the opposite, takes the opposite path, isolating himself from society in the middle of the countryside.
How has your style evolved?
I still don't think I have my own style. That would be one of my goals. I am in full search, on a path of experimentation that leads me to find that uniqueness that every artist must have. I hope to get it sometime even though I'm in no rush. What worries me the most is being able to continue filming and that is enough.
Tell us any strange or funny stories while making the film?
We started filming Curtido (Hardened) in January, it is the middle of summer in my country. The temperatures are really very high and the heat is unbearable. I needed that what was seen on the screen was the opposite, that is, a cold climate. So I asked the costume designer to wear winter clothes. The actors hated me for this. We had to stop filming for them to cool off a little bit between takes. It was necessary to fight so that perspiration that was permanent was not noticed. It was difficult but in the end we were happy with the result.
The Misrule Film Movement & Pink8 manifesto bring what to mind?
I did not know the movement or the manifesto before meeting the Festival. When I met you, I also got to know your ideas about the movies, of which I feel identified. I was born, live and produce my films in the province of Formosa (Argentina), which is very small compared to the big city in the world. For this reason, it is very difficult to access industrial cinema and many times we are totally oblivious to the stories they tell us. For this reason, we experience alternative modes of expression that are consistent with who we really are.
What can we expect from your next film?
My next movie is also about a village character. A woman tied to social and religious conventions who feels overwhelmed by her surroundings but also by the decisions I make in her life. From a series of events, she will be able to see that there are other ways for her, very different from those she knows. You should only be encouraged to take them. I think these characters reflect a somewhat invisible part of the society of my country. My idea is to continue telling stories where they are reflected.
