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“I feel total ownership of the films I photograph": Rodrigo Prieto’s MASTER CLASS at the 22nd FICM

Gustavo R. Gallardo

We are experiencing a moment where the work of Mexican cinematographers stands out in major productions worldwide. Rodrigo Prieto, is one of these cinematographers. Currently making his directorial debut with Pedro Páramo, Prieto admits he also feels a bit like the author of the films he photographs. “I feel complete ownership of them,” he adds with confidence.

As part of his activities at the 22nd Morelia International Film Festival (FICM), the visual author of films such as Amores perros (2000), The Irishman (2019), Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), and Barbie (2023), jokingly addressed what it was like to “talk to himself” while working on Pedro Páramo, since he directed and photographed the film.

"With Pedro Páramo I didn't have to wait for the photographer,” he said with a laugh, recalling a statement he made more than 20 years ago, when he was filming Amores Perros with Alejandro González Iñárritu, about not liking to direct because he would have to wait for the cinematographer to finish preparing the scene.

“The director is done with the actors and you, as a photographer, are thinking all the time about the next shot, about where to place the camera.... You never stop!” he said.

Film critic Erick Estrada, moderator of the master class, pointed out that Pedro Páramo was not only a parallel project to Killers of the Flower Moon and Barbie, but also the third version of this work to be filmed by a prominent Mexican cinematographer. The first version, in 1967, was photographed by Gabriel Figueroa, directed by Carlos Velo; and the second, by Jorge Stahl Jr. under the direction of José Bolaños. “Two pillars of cinema,” Prieto noted.

”Is Juan Rulfo so visual that we needed three cinematographers of your stature to capture the vast universe of Pedro Páramo?” asked Estrada.

"Rulfo's language is very poetic and melodic. He himself was a photographer and that became an important reference for the film, he was an inspiration... The novel has poetic atmospheres, but the intention was to translate them into images,” Prieto answered.

Prieto explained that filming a new version of Pedro Páramo was a challenge not only professionally, but also personally, since, like the character, he had to look back at his family tree. He spoke of his maternal grandfather, Jorge Prieto Laurens, who played a relevant role in politics during the first half of the 20th century.

“I bring behind me generations of scumbag Prietos, and I have been trying for many years to understand what is in my own blood, things that I don't like and that I have fought about my personality... I didn't imagine that this would be Pedro Páramo,” said the cinematographer.

When asked about his experience photographing and directing at the same time, Prieto explained that although he considers that the photographer's job is to be a channel for the director and “understand his world,” in Pedro Páramo he tried to listen to and take care of both voices.

“It was like combining the visual aspect with the acting. Finally, everything is mixed, for me, you can't separate them. That's why I feel that the films I photograph are also, to a certain extent, mine. I feel totally part of the creation... It's a film I make with and for the director, but I feel complete ownership of them,” he said.