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While Prisons Exist by Nicolás G. Wenhammar at the FICM

Mientras la prisión exista / While Prisons Exist (2015) by Nicolás Gutiérrez Wenhammar is part of the Mexican Feature Film Section in competition at the 13th FICM.

Gutiérrez Wenhammar studied directing and screenwriting at Bande à Part Film School in Barcelona. His short film Ciudades (2013) was nominated for the Best Short Film at the Gaudi Awards of the Catalán Film Academy and participated in the Mecal Pro Barcelona International Short and Animation Film Festival and the International University Film Festival Chiapas. This year he is also competing in the Mexican Short Film Section of the 13th FICM, with his film Mujer y pájaro (2015), which was presented at the International Film Students Meeting of the San Sebastián International Film Festival.

Luis Fernando Pacheco, Nicolás Gutiérrez Wenhammar, Analía Goethals, Nicolás Gutiérrez, José Julián Morales Luis Fernando Pacheco, Nicolás Gutiérrez Wenhammar, Analía Goethals, Nicolás Gutiérrez, José Julián Morales

Later, the premiere of While Prisons Exist was held before the public in a gala event with a red carpet and the presence of talent. In the question and answer session, the director said:

On the similarity with Biutiful (by Alejandro González Iñárritu):
“I think that apart from the city, there is not much in common since this is a minimalist film and Biutiful is more of a baroque film.”

On what he learned while making the film:
“This film was like a school, somehow like our thesis. I threw in everything that I wanted to try, maybe that’s why suddenly it has so many lines, some don’t continue, others do. But I really threw in everything that I wanted to see how it reacted when it came together with other things.What happens when you put a documentary with fiction? What happens if you put an actor and non-actor together? What happens if you put together a doctor with a person without a profession? I’m still learning, for example in this project I learned other things.”

On if he considers it to be a Mexican film?
“I don’t feel as though it is particularly Mexican, but I never thought about that. What I am very happy about is to present it in Mexico.”

Following you can see a gallery of photos from both events: