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Memory, Documentary, Fiction or Somewhere In Between: Bruno Santamaría's 6 MESES EN EL EDIFICIO ROSA CON AZUL at the 24th FICM

Brisa Naomi R. L.

Director Bruno Santamaría Razo presented his feature film 6 meses en el edificio rosa con azul at the 24th Morelia International Film Festival (FICM), as part of the Mexican Feature Film section of the Official Selection.

The presentation was attended by producer Carlos Quiñones, editor Andrea Rabasa, cinematographer Fernando Hernández, and actors Valeria Venegas, Sofía Espinosa, Eduardo Gómez, and Jader Reyes.

The story follows Bruno, an 11-year-old boy living in Mexico City in the 1990s, who discovers he has a crush on his best friend, Vladimir, all while his family grapples with his father’s HIV diagnosis.

The filmmaker shared that the film's origins were conceived during the period of isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After having to suspend a documentary project in a soup kitchen for homeless people, the lockdown and the feeling of vulnerability led him to connect emotionally with an episode of pain, fear and mourning experienced by his own family years ago.

"I began interviewing my family and encountered conflicting accounts. As I started writing, I realized that to connect the ideas and images, I had to deliberately lean into my imagination. I wasn't making a film strictly tied to a specific family event, but rather to the emotional memory of a family that went through something that shifted everything," Santamaría explained.

Sofía Espinosa highlighted the value of the time set aside for dialogue, rehearsals, and the sharing of personal experiences before filming, which allowed the performances to emerge through a natural and unconstrained process: "That space allowed us to build the characters together, drawing on fragments of reality to create something that felt truly our own." Jader Reyes and Valeria Venegas valued the creative freedom during the recordings, which felt more like a "collaborative game" where there was no pressure, allowing the performers to contribute their own emotions.

Cinematographer Fernando Hernández highlighted his long-standing rapport with Bruno Santamaría, noting how the production design team succeeded in transforming the filming space into a universe rich in detail and shared meaning.