Waimea Ocean Film Festival - The Weekend Sailor
In 1973, with almost no experience, Mexican captain Ramon Carlin raced against the superstars of sailing in a 9 month deadly round the world regatta winning the overall prize.
Interview with Director/Producer Bernardo Arsuaga
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Thanks. I did it because it's a great and surprising story. Great to tell. I did it because I love film-making and documentaries. I love sailing, I love underdog stories and I love Mexico...so a lot of things I love collided on this project....It's also a way to express myself and to be able to tell this story according to my own style and way of seeing things.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Because its a compelling story...we have love, we have a fabulous, underdog story, we have death, we have drama and a lot of funny moments as well...I think it's a very complete story, besides it's the story of the first sailing race around the world and just for that I think it's a part of sailing and human history.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
A lot of my personal interests got to get together on this film, so it's very satisfying on a personal level. And universal, well its a part of human development and world history. I guess that's the reason why the documentary has been around the world many times, it's really interesting to know what happened in 1973 when a bunch of sailors wanted to race around the world on their boats...This race has generated a whole new sport, nowadays you can find like 5 or 6 Round the World races happening on a very competitive level. So I think the events on this first race in 1973, told by our film, have a universal interest.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
People love it wherever it plays...they get really surprised about how things happened 42 years ago...they understand that this is not a sailing story, its a human story where a non experienced sailor with his wife and family starts this lunatic journey...this race it's the longest race in human history and we will not have a longer one until humans start racing to the moon.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Really surprised me...This is my first film, I had never work on film production before or TV or whatever, so I really did not know what to expect.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
To share this great story with more people..."Hey everybody!"
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
We would love to be in more film festivals...we have been invited to more than 180 festivals around the world and had more than 300 screenings, tours, etc.....The film festival experience is even better than working with great distributors who only understand money...on the film festival scene you can feel real art and a more interested audience.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
Historic!
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
The underdog 100%. How can a non experienced person with no training beat the most competitive athletes? Not one, all of them...not for a day or a good week, but for 8 months...it's just outrageous
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
We have some stories in mind....but nothing formal...I'm really not in the movie business....I'm more focused on my family and my stuff, but film will always be a part of me so you never know.
Interview: March 2018
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTIAQ+, scifi, 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
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The weekend sailor
Length: 73 minutes
Director: Bernardo Arsuaga
Producer: Bernardo Arsuaga, Erik Virtanen and Chris John Malanchen
Writer: same 3 guys
About the writer, director and producer: IMDB
Key cast: sayula II crew members, they are all on our website www.theweekendsailor.com
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists): journalists maybe
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theweekendsailor/
Instagram: yes, The Weekend Sailor
Other: linked in, vimeo and youtube
Made in association with: step inside films and innocent films
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?
itunes, amazon, google play, etc...but just in the United States...some channel in Russia and in RTL Germany by subscription and in Starz Entertainment on Dtv