CANNES SHORT FILM CORNER - Sinfonietta
Logline: “Music begins where words are powerless to express. Music is made for the inexpressible” Claude Debussy.
Length: 11:30 min
Director: Hypatia Ixtabay Avilés Montiel
Producer: Leticia Ramírez Olvera
Hypatia Avilés (Mexico City, May 4th 1993) is a just graduated filmmaker from CENTRO University and musician with great trajectory in the media.
Leticia Ramírez studied the same career at CENTRO University where she has produced multiple institutional projects.
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists): Producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists, everyone is welcome.
Funders: Self-funded with her parents.
Made in association with: Centro University.
Release date: Finished in February 2016, release date pending.
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Thank you very much! This is my graduation Thesis and my first formal short film. When I began this project, I wanted to bind two really important and fascinating things in my life: cinema and music.
So, I wanted to use the cinematographic resources to talk a little about the musical world under my own view and experiences, everything that happens before “going on stage” inside and outside the musician as a character.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
This short film speaks in a very realistic manner, almost visceral, about academic music, because I take my own and other musicians' experiences to explain this world. Also, I built a short film with a not conventional language and narrative speech.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Belonging to a Project, an activity, a team, or any other similar thing means hard work and discipline. Individually, we all have our own processes, in which there may be a series of actions or feelings when we do them. Speaking just about music, there exists continuous preparation, constant essays, competition, perfection…
All those elements play a very important role when we talk about becoming a better musician. Almost anybody may be identified with this approach: the outside world in which we develop, introspective knowledge and personal achievements.
And, most importantly: Music is a universal language, that speaks for itself.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?
I had a really clear initial idea of talking about the musical world, as I said earlier, music has been a really important activity in my life. A curious thing is that during the development of the initial project, I was having a lot of troubles related with music, however, this worked as an inspiration to build the speech of the short film.
So, as I was trying to include a lot of external and internal themes, I decided that the experimental line was the best for me (I also like this gender a lot) because this gave me much more liberty to express my ideas.
The script was a difficult task because I decided not to include dialogue, it is not necessary for me; this made the script to develop only under a speech of actions that could talk by themselves, and could show in a very precise way the context, sensations and feelings of the main character. It was a great and interesting work.
A key point for me during the realization of this short film was the need to include real musicians in my production. The musicians that acted as extras really knew and lived the context before going on stage: get tidy, warm up, relax, and all those routines before the concert; the main character, more than others, knows firsthand about these routines and difficulties and, of course, how to play the instrument.
From the script, the actions were exposed around two worlds: the real and the subjective one; all those actions tell something by the use of the cinematographic resources such as art, photography, sound, edition, etc. I used all this media to explore and experiment in different ways during the realization of this film.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Until this moment, I have received great comments, mainly for the way the “story is told”, the language used and the script's originality. Although it is an experimental project, I have been told that it is really clear what it means, something really difficult considering the experimental genre; this is something I am really proud of, because at the beginning, my fear was not to be able to transmit all the sensations as they are subjective matters; it is not easy to take the ideas from the paper to the screen. Some people even asked me for a second part.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Actually, yes. From the beginning, it was considered a very difficult Project to do because of the genre and the speech, but mainly the challenge to transmit sensations and be clear about them. I am really glad and surprised to see a satisfactory result, this reaffirms my point of view and makes me want to continue developing in this genre; I want to try other things too, but always to keep on growing.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
It is a great opportunity for my film to reach different parts of the world. I would like people to watch the film and share to give us, the new voices, a chance and continue creating under new and diverse possibilities, and even inspire new filmmakers. I would like to open a way of communication with the public and other people in the film media.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Everyone is welcome.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I mainly wish to open the possibility of critical thinking about the things that surround us and about ourselves. I would like my film to be seen as a new proposal of making films and of using the cinematographic resources.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
*Are you capable of reaching catharsis in your projects?
Would you like to add anything else?
I am really glad for the support my family has given me, my father and mother, to achieve everything I want, and to have the discipline to get it. Also for the people that have been there every time, everywhere, no matter what.
I would like to continue working and creating new things in all the cinema aspects.
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Right now I am trying to achieve even more goals with this short film, and also thinking about new projects and how to develop them. One should never stop creating and reaching new goals.