Florida Film Festival 2019 – Debris (Desecho)
After a disastrous event on his construction site, Armando acts quickly to save his crew but instead stumbles upon an unspeakable truth.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer Julio O. Ramos
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
As an immigrant living in the US, I’m naturally intrigued by immigrant tales. Illegal immigration is one of them, but more accurately, this film depicts labor trafficking. The workers in the film, with the exception of the foreman, are modern-day slaves. The inspiration for this film comes from the time when a friend of mine was getting her house renovated. One day, she found a handwritten note that was left at her door. The note was from a worker, in “Spanglish”, claiming to be compensated for his work. He left his phone number so I called the man. I learned that he was subcontracted by someone my friend didn’t know. I promise I would look into it. So, my friend, who legally had hired a construction company, called the contractor who said it was a misunderstanding and that they would solve it. My friend never heard from that worker again and never knew what happened. So I thought about this--Who are the people building the homes of America? What do we know about them? Where did they come from? Who hired them? Upon further research on illegal immigrants working on construction sites, I learned that similar cases depicted human labor trafficking. This is a form of modern slavery occurring in the United States and globally.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
The film is gripping and compelling. Also, it should make you think about your relationship with labor trafficking. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that 21 million people around the world are trapped in jobs into which they were coerced or deceived, and which they cannot leave. Contractors and employers become traffickers of labor, making false promises of high-paying jobs and luring desperate people into atrocious working conditions. Far different from promised, the employers exert such physical and psychological control that victims believe they have no other choice but to work long hours for little or no pay. America’s obsession with cheap labor has led to a complicated immigration policy intertwining the everyday American life with the global transgressions of labor trafficking.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
This is the tale of a hard working man that wants to make ends meet. A man who is aware of the bad situation he and his crew is in. It's about his relationships in the workplace and the things he needs to do in order to keep his head above water. It's also about the invisibility of these hard-working people. Let alone, the invisibility of labor trafficking. It's about realizing that labor trafficking doesn't only happen somewhere else, but it's also happening here in the US.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
In all honesty, we wrote and rewrote the script even during production. The story always revolved around the idea of a worker becoming incapacitated due to an accident, but the labor trafficking nuances made it heavy-handed. At a point, the script felt expositional. So while shooting we stripped it from unnecessary dialogue and forced physical activity. Because we shot in one location, in chronological order and in long takes we were able to improvise a lot. We kept the actors in the moment and thus, I believe we found the true essence of each scene.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
The feedback has been positive although the film is hard to watch for the most part. While it's gripping, at the very least the film evokes memories and relationships of people with immigrants around them.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
One question that always gets me is "why Russians?" In the film, the boss (Tadevos) is an Armenian who speaks Russian to his doctor friend (Kirill). Some presumed that it made sense to antagonize Russians in this story since they're believed to be the nemesis of Americans. But that's not it. I wanted to make a tale of immigrants only. I had another nationality in mind, but since Karren Karagulian came into the picture as Tadevos (the contractor) he suggested to speak Russian. After this, we looked for Russian speakers only to cast for Kirill. I never intended to demonize Russians.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I want to shed light on the grim world of human labor trafficking while focusing on the vulnerable lives of illegal construction workers here in America.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
All of the above.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I would like this film's audience to grow every day. I believe the message is important and that it needs to be shared.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
What happens when a construction worker gets injured in the workplace? What happens if the worker is illegal? What happens if the worker is a victim of labor trafficking? What does the trafficker do if the worker becomes incapacitated?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Along with my co-writer and co-producer, Lucas Mireles, we are developing a feature film version of the short.
Interview: April 2019
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Debris (Desecho)
After a disastrous event on his construction site, Armando acts quickly to save his crew but instead stumbles upon an unspeakable truth.
Length: 14:20
Director: Julio O. Ramos
Producer: Lucas Mireles, Julio O. Ramos
Writer: Julio O. Ramos, Lucas Mireles
Key cast: Tenoch Huerta (Armando), Karren Karagulian (Tadevos), Abraham Luna (Manolo), Jorge Diaz (Rafa), Hansel Ramirez (Roberto), Daniyar (Kirill)
Looking for: sales agents, distributors, journalists, film festival directors, producers, buyers
Facebook: Desecho - Debris
Other: IMDb
Funders: Self-funded
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Florida Film Festival, Sat, 4-13, 8:00 pm, Wed, 4-17, 4:00 pm