10 · 11 · 07

They invite us to dance with their Cumbia Callera

Clara Sánchez/Translated by Vicente Castañar

[imagen]With a lot of rhythm, dance and humor, Cumbia Callera by René Villarreal was presented last night. The music is by Celso Piña. The story is about a love triangle between young people from the Colombian Neighborhood in Monterrey.

Before the film Villareal  explained at a press conference that his movie portrays a local reality: “this is not a common topic, it is local, from within Mexico.”
This film has few dialogs and its story is narrated through the use of lyrics. “Today’s films have too many dialogs, things that shouldn’t be said are said and a lot can be said with a little speech.”

This movie was filmed in Monterrey and one of its strengths is its actors’ naturality: “they both grew up in this neighborhood, they have acting studies, Fernanda studied drama and Oliver was in a Monterrey film called Así. Oliver is the only young actor with no previous experience. The older actors have already worked in the film industry.”
Celso Piña gave birth to the movies central music theme: “Celso was the natural choice, he is the beginner of this movement, he taught himself how to play the Colombian accordion differently than Northern Mexican Music. He has been doing this music for a while, ha has been stubborn about it and he is the most representative musician, the best know and he had to be part of the movie.” Said Villarreal
 
[imagen]The Actors…
Fernanda García, is Cori, a young girl of Colombian origins, she was asked about her character’s looks. “it was an ongoing process, we kept adding things, we didn’t want to show the masculine side of this Colombian Neighborhood girls, we wanted to highlight their sensuality. When they dyed my hair I cried a lot, I saw myself in the mirror and I didn’t like how I looked.”

Andul Zambrano, one of the main actors, said that it was really hard to learn how to dance: “I really got on Rene’s nerves, we took so many classes, so many hours trying the dance moves so they would look good and natural.”
Oliver Cantú was asked about the hardship of working with no dialogs: “we read the script but we didn’t know what the songs’ lyrics would say and then when we saw the first presentation before the movie was released we were able to see that it all made sense through its musical background.”
 
The Background…
This film shows some graffitis where one can see common and popular images like the Virgin. Showing these popular images was central into capturing the community’s essence. “In this Colombian world in Monterrey there are bloody Christs and Virgins, there is a devotion towards all these images. Young people paint these murals.

The graffitis of this film were designed by Geo Vázquez, a young man who has been recognized for his excellent street murals.”
 
The filmmaker was also asked about he origins of the Colombians in Monterrey: “there are many theories, the most convincing one says that 30 years ago in Monterrey when there was no money to pay for a musical band, people would get a DJ and a sound system (sonidero). These people would bring many CDs. They brought a lot of cheap music from Miami, many were Colombian CDs, so people started to listen to it and they liked it. Both Monterry and Colombian music use the accordion, although they are played in different styles they both have the same sensitivity.“

[imagen]Marketing…
We still don’t have a distributor, but the film is going to varios international festivals and later on we are doing the market lauch, explained Cristina Prado, director of Promoción Cultural del IMCINE.
Villareal mentioned t