March 14, 2021 – 01:02
It is available for free through Cine.Ar, “Charlotte”, a film starring the Spanish actress Ángela Molina (who received the Goya de Honor 2021 last Saturday). The Tribuno de Jujuy spoke with the Argentine director of the film who resides in Asunción, who referred to this co-production between Paraguay and Argentina.
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“Charlotte” revolves around a forgotten Spanish movie star, very popular in the 70s, who, seeing his star fade, decides to embark on an unusual journey when he learns that the director who led her to professional glory will film his last film in Paraguay. Thus, accompanied by Lee, her faithful oriental assistant, she decides to start a unique journey and do everything possible to achieve a leading role that she feels is hers.
It is an entertaining road movie, which with drama and humor reflects the regrets of an ex-acting diva (played with great sensitivity by the great Angela Molina), a troubled woman who tries to deal with the melancholy that her memories of the past generate. . An impeccable aesthetic invoice, where the meticulous photography, the careful selection of locations and a very appropriate soundtrack stand out, complete this cinematographic proposal that is available on the Cine.Ar. platform.
Why did you decide to do this project?
It is a complicated question because it is not that ideas fall from the sky but that there are several factors that lead us directors to tell a certain story. In this case, I wanted to refer to adults, disposable people, and I focused on my world, that is to say, that of cinema, with a character who was a star, a diva who had her heyday in the 70s and then later it becomes useless, on that axis the central character developed. I am a very visual filmmaker and the first thing I saw, the first image that encouraged me to continue with this project, had to do with a very lonely, inhospitable place and a motorhome with a woman whose peace was interrupted by a drone. From there the whole idea developed.
How was the choice of the leading actress?
As I said I am quite visual when I write and thinking about the leading role I saw who I wanted for the role. And at first I thought of Geraldine Chaplin and even had contact with her. I passed the script to her at a time when she was filming in Patagonia. I chatted with her in Buenos Aires and she was very interested in the project and was about to do it, but a few months before starting filming she had a personal problem that prevented her from participating. So we had to go out to find someone else and there with my producer we thought of Ángela Molina.
We got in touch with her representative, we passed her the script and she loved it, we had marathon talks on the phone and she loved my previous films “Less Modern Times” (2011) and “Boca de Pozo” (2015) -. But I think it was all an act of faith from her, because she had never worked with me and because she had to come to Paraguay for several weeks to film. So we are very grateful to Angela because she put soul, heart and life to the project and now I can’t imagine the movie with another actress.
What memories do you have of working with her?
The best of the memories because it was a daily learning for me as a director, was filming with a superstar, let’s remember that a few days ago she received the Goya of Honor 2021 for her exceptional career. She is also a person with a huge heart, always predisposed to work, I have only words of thanks for her.
In the film its aesthetics, the locations and the photography stand out particularly. What can you tell us about it?
My previous films were with an almost documentary aesthetic because that was required. In this film, being linked to the cinema itself, it needed a much more careful aesthetic so we worked a lot with photography, art and costumes. We had an incredible DF (Pablo Desanzo) and as I live and work in Paraguay in advertising, I was very focused on where I wanted to shoot.
We did a good pre-production job, with a very meticulous scouting with the location coordinator (Luis Bogado) because we only had four weeks to shoot and the plans were complex, they required a lot of time, work and various elements such as cars, cranes or drones. . But when one is supported by a good team, by a staff that is almost a family, everything can be achieved.
What complications did you have to face during filming?
The shooting plan was intense, sometimes with four locations per day, it was crazy and to that we must add that the temperatures in Paraguay can sometimes reach 45º and all considering the care we had to take with the protagonist who is a Big woman. So it was a very nice challenge that we were able to achieve thanks to our team.
Was “Charlotte” finished before the pandemic? How was the process of post production?
We filmed in November and December 2019 and we started the edition in March 2020, I traveled to Buenos Aires because there was going to be post-production. Then everything we know is triggered. I live in Paraguay and I was barely able to return on one last flight, I have my production company here (in Asunción) and my partner. So all the post production was done remotely and it was also challenging because everything was done virtually by Zoom (the editing, the sound, the music, the color correction). And in this process I learned that one has to trust, surrender as a director to the work of the professionals that he chose. After it was all over when I finally got to see the movie in a theater and it was an amazing thing, I felt a great emotion.
What do you think about the premieres through the platform?
For all this health issue I think they are very well, because thanks to the Cine.Ar platform, for example, directors can premiere their works, because today if one does not have this option it is almost impossible for the film to reach the public . So it’s the only way to bring a film closer to people. And now we are at a hinge stage because not only is it being released by Cine.Ar but also new films are reaching some theaters.
What can you tell us about your professional news? Can you tell us about any of your next projects?
Now I am quite focused on this premiere in Argentina and in April the film will arrive in Paraguay where they are eagerly awaiting it, there it will be released in theaters that have already been open for a long time. I am enjoying what is happening with the film because we are already in very advanced talks, because there is the possibility of selling the film to a major platform. And I have several projects in mind, there is one that I am envisioning and that is on track. It is a project related to the tragicomic and the absurd, which is what I like.
Do you know Jujuy?
I do not know, visiting Jujuy is something that I have pending. When I was young I had a photo development house and through my work there, I know Jujuy. Through images I was able to appreciate all kinds of landscapes from Jujuy.
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