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LUMBRENSUEÑO, Directed by José Pablo Escamilla, Had Its Press Conference at the 21st FICM

Pablo Rendón

As part of the 21st Morelia International Film Festival (FICM), the press conference for lumbrensueño (2023), directed by José Pablo Escamilla, was held at the Museo Casa Natal de Morelos.

When asked by the press where the desire to show the hopelessness of today's youth towards the world and the country came from, the filmmaker responded: "I grew up in Toluca, a place where exuberant nature coexists with an industrialized world that affects people's psyche."

"I suppose it's something very personal for you, not because it's a film you make exclusively for your own consumption, but because it's a vision you want to share," said Diego Solís, cast member in the film.

The filmmaker was then asked about the theme of suicide, present in the plot of the film, to which he responded: "We are related in a very abstract way to suicide. It is a subject we decided to confront, considering the mental health crisis that increased during the pandemic, especially among the youth."

"I fell in love with this project, with the human quality of José Pablo. I knew that I was not going to work here, I was going to enjoy it", Teresita Sanchez said of her involvement in lumbrensueño.  "I hope you won't get sick of seeing me so much," she joked about her presence in different works presented at the festival.

About the film's photography, Escamilla said he wanted to create "a hazy atmosphere, with green lights and very dark spaces to give the sensation of shadows. We wanted to capture the uncertainty, the existential doubts of the protagonists." Then, regarding the poetic element present in the narrative, he added, "Poetry in my film responds to what is not economically viable. A bookstore is not the best place to make money."

Imix Lamak, who plays Oscar, said that the project came at a crucial moment in his career as an actor. "José Pablo wrote to me. He told me 'I'm not good for this', that's when this opportunity came. If I have something to say, then we all have something to say," he said.

The film's producer, Diandra Arriaga, spoke about the support of the Biennale Cinema College program: "It's very crazy to make a film that will premiere at La Biennale di Venezia. We had full houses at both screenings there. I think it has been very well received and the theme of young people facing an adverse reality has awakened a lot of interest in Europe."

lumbrensueño is about Lucas, a Mexican teenager who has just arrived with his mother and sister to start over in a gray, industrial city in the Toluca Valley. He works in a hamburger restaurant where a manipulative manager is constantly trying to take full advantage of him. He spends his afternoons with his colleague and friend Oscar, a nervous otaku who resists work, family and cosmic pressures. Until he decides to take a trip and entrusts his most valuable possessions to Lucas, who through the discovery of photography will find a way to capture the light he sees around him and bring it back home. 

lumbrensueño, part of the Official Mexican Feature Film Selection of the 21st Morelia International Film Festival, will be screened this Thursday, October 26 at 4:00 p.m. at the Centro Cultural Universitario.