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Tales of short Odysseys

Araceli Calva Translated by Morris Thompson

Those are among the lessons recounted by young filmmakers entered the Mexican Short Film competition of the 8th Morelia International Film Festival.

Carlos Armella, Alonso Ruizpalacios, Inti Aldasoro and Marie Benito related their adventures during the filming of their respective shorts 29, El último canto del pájaro Cú (The Cu Bird’s Last Song), Busco empleo (Looking for a Job) and Stella Maris. And they agreed that the biggest challenge was staying within budget.

For Carlos Armella and Marie Benito, weather was another dominant aspect as they shot their shorts. At first they saw rain as imbuing their works with a special ambiance, but then faced financial uncertainty as it didn’t let up.

Alonso Ruizpalacio didn’t have to confront the vagaries of the weather, but he did have to build a set in a swimming pool for El último canto del pájaro Cú. And that greatly complicated the shooting and editing.

At the filmmakers’ joint press conference, Inti Aldasoro said he was a stand-in for Francisco Valle, the director of Busco empleo who died four months ago –
before he learned that his work had been picked for the festival as he had yearned.

Ruizpalacios, asked about the importance of winning a prize at a festival, said that prizes are the last thing on the mind of a filmmaker at work. Instead, he said, the priority is to tell a story well in line with one’s vision.

“Film festivals are the windows for seeing shorts,” he said, “because they don’t get commercial runs for even two weeks.”

Still, he acknowledged the usefulness of awards, citing the experience of Carlos Armella whose juried entry this year is 29: Armella won a Golden Lion at the 2008 Venice festival for his short Tierra y pan (Land and Bread).

Armella himself said that it’s most important that the story connect with the viewer. His short 29 is about a man in search of happiness. It was produced by 29 Films.