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Sergio Flores on Travesías: "I Wanted to Make a Movie About Someone Who Doesn't Belong"

Gustavo R. Gallardo

The film Travesías (2021), by Sergio Flores Thorija, was presented at the 19th edition of the Morelia International Film Festival (FICM) within the Mexican Feature Film Section.

Travesías "is, for me, the portrait of a city divided by an artificial wall, because part of my thesis on the film is that San Diego and Tijuana should really be one city," said the filmmaker.

The director talked about the four years he spent in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he studied at Béla Tarr's film school: "It is a completely different country from Mexico, so for four years I felt like someone who did not belong to that environment, I've wanted to make a film about someone who does not belong where he is since then, someone who feels like a stranger."

Because of this, he said that the film was a necessity for him, because "cinema is like a basic need, like breathing, like drinking water, it's something you have to get out of your body to continue living, and I had the need to make this movie."

Travesías, the second film by Flores Thorija, produced by Carlos Reygadas, tells the story of Alejandra and Víctor, who live in what seems to be the same city, but are divided by a wall: on one side, she works at a nail salon for a living; in the other, he creates his own company.

Sergio Flores stressed that he decided to work with non-professional actors - like he has done for ten years - because "I think something that's super important in every director's search is that each film you make must be very different (...) and it is like taking a leap, a risk, and if it doesn't pay off, then it doesn't work out, but I'm trying to push the cinematographic language."  Adding that almost all the directors he admires work with non-professional actors.

He added that something fundamental for him was for the film to be made the way he wanted: “It doesn't matter if you have a thousand pesos or a billion pesos, you have to invest your wool in time, because it is the only thing that matters, having more time to make the movie the way you want it, so it was a big challenge."