11 · 09 · 12

Press Conference: Rezeta by Luis Fernando Frías
 

Rezeta is part of the Mexican Feature Film section in competition and had its first press screening. The filmmaker, who is currently doing a Master's at Columbia University in New York, spoke with the media. He was joined by producer Gustavo Gatica and photographer Emilio Valdés.

 

 

"Rezeta told me her story and I thought it would be very interesting to explore the theme about how a foreigner lives in Mexico," he said. "Without talking about her past, what she told me served as a recourse to tell a story."

 

 

The scenes in the film are "absolutely" fiction, but the interpretations come from the personality of each one of the characters, who are not professional actors. "I was interested in working with Rezeta, who is a model – a world that has to do with stereotypes and prejudices," the director added. " I wanted to reflect on this theme and ask questions about it.

 

 

In relation to how he dealt with the interpreters in situations and dialogues, Frías said he worked with a script that had the written story, but no dialogue; there was a lot of improvisation and letting the camera run without the actors knowing it. "Those scenes are a big part of the film, because they reflect greater realism," he said.

 

 

The director didn't use professional actors because he said the film needed to be made that way. Rezeta gave her the chance to tell what she wanted to tell through her life story, he said. "Only she could do that."

 

 

He said that for new directors it is easier to work with non-professional actors, but it doesn't mean he will always work that way.

 

 

The photography of Emilio Valdés, who is also an actor, was part of "an integral experience that allowed me to have a new point of view within the film," he said. Rezeta was filmed in Super 16 mm "because we don't know when we are going to make another film, or if it will be the last one we make in our lives, so we decided to make it in cinematographic format."

 

 

Rezeta will be screened on Friday, November 9, at 6 pm at Cinépolis Centro and Saturday, November 10 at 4 pm at Cinépolis las Américas.

 

You can read more about Rezeta in our previous interview with the director: here.