CANNES SHORT FILM CORNER - Baraka
Logline: In the months before the war in Iraq, Abdel and Umayr, two brothers who are very close, will be forced apart.
Length: 22 min
Director: Néstor Ruiz Medina
Producer: Fernándo J. Monge
About the director and producer:
Néstor Ruiz Medina, born in 1988, is a young Spanish director founder of 7 Cuerdas Films company. He is a producer, director and DOP of films and short films in Spain and he is preparing his first film which will be a co-production between Spain and Colombia. For more info check his website www.nestorruiz.es or his IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4143166/
Fernando J. Monge is the producer of Baraka, and the Spanish film Prevenidos, currently in pre production. He works as a dialogue editor in one of the biggest sound editing companies in Spain. He is preparing his new short film for this year.
Looking for sales agents, buyers, film festival directors and journalists
Funders: 7 Cuerdas Films S.L /Iñaki Ochoa / Néstor Ruiz Medina / Fernando J. Monge
Made in association with: 7 Cuerdas Films S.L
Release date: 24 of June in the Huesca International Film Festival.
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I want to tell a story where the main characters where children, in every moment we have his point of view and we see his relationship with a violent world. I think it´s interesting to show how violence can affect the environment and relationships of a child, and how in this case war can make you lose everything you love.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
It´s a very hard short film, that puts you as spectator in the first file of a reality that happens every day. One of the highlights of the film is when you start to see it you can't stop watching it, it has a great rhythm with a great action scene in the middle of the story that does not let you stop.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
War is a very universal theme, and human relationships is another of the principal themes of the movie. How these two things work together is one of the main themes of the film.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?
Initially the script was written for another time and location. After a few revisions we knew that the best way to tell the story that we wanted to tell was to set it in the middle of a war. And that is when Baraka was born.
It´s curious to see how things change, at the beginning the principal role was reserved for a male. At the last moment we thought it would work so much better if the principal character was a female for a simple reason, the connection of a woman with her kids is so much stronger, and I always love the females characters in action movies.
It was a very large production that took us almost 8 months to finish. For the kids it was their first film, so there were 3 months of creative rehearsal with them. They had to learn their lines in the original Arabic language.
For the lead actress, Esther Acebo, it was a challenge too, she had never been in an action film before, and she had to prepare herself with a trainer who helped her in the way of shooting a gun, high risk conduction, etc...
What type of feedback have you received so far?
At the moment the film is receiving great reviews. We have done only a prerelease inside of a festival here in Madrid and everyone love Baraka. I think the history works very well and it´s easy to connect with.
We won three of the biggest prizes in the festival, Best actress to Esther Acebo and both the Audience and Jury Award for Best Film.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
We are very happy with the reactions of the film. Not every day does your film win an audience and jury prize. All cast and crew are speechless and we hope that this is only the beginning.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
It´s great to be on a platforms like Wearemovingstories because its another way to reach a potential audience.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Our distributors are Freak, one of the most important companies in Spain.
It´s important that as many people as possible can see the film. So It will be great to find a worldwide sales agent, it's a very international film. We'd also like to interest television buyers, festival directors and journalist to have as much influence as we can.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
We would like to be in the main festivals of cinema, and we will try to place it there. The most important thing for us is that people see the short and enjoy it.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
How do war and violence change strong relationships?
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
We are working in a new Feature Film that will be a co-production between Spain and Ecuador. We hope that we can shoot it soon.