Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking with one of the incredible IndieFlix and From Here to Awesome, filmmakers, Mabel Valdiviezo. Mabel directed the short film, Soledad is Gone Forever. http://www.indieflix.com/Films/SoledadIsGoneForever
A Peruvian born filmmaker, Mabel’s life and understanding of the social and political travesties in South America give her an unparalleled insight that comes across in her incredible film.
Mabel has seen quite a bit of success with her film, playing at film festivals all over the world, including the Cannes Film Market Short Corner. Her next project is bringing Soledad is Gone Forever to the big screen as a feature length film. Here she takes time to speak with IndieFlix about her life in film and what she is up to next. Oh, and don’t worry, she’s voting for Obama.
How did your upbringing in Peru influence your filmmaking?
I was part of the emerging experimental artist movement in Peru during the mid 80s that was very active and questioned the establishment. This led me to research beyond my Peruvian self so I became really interested in watching a lot of European films, specially the neorealist period - post war I in Italy such Bicycle Thief , the French Avant Garde with Truffaut, most Fellini films and one of my favorite auteurs, the Russian filmmaker Andre Tarskovsky.
Today, however, I’m revisiting my Peruvian self and I am finding many fascinating stories that are part of me growing up as a young woman and the Kafkanian / Almodovaresque world I knew then.
Tell us about you.
My life seems to be all about filmmaking, writing and reading books. Lately I am reading spiritual books such as The Secret of Shambala by James Redfield.
Are you married?
I got married 9 months ago and have a wonderful husband who is also my writing partner.
Do you have any children?
No, I don’t and I won’t probably have them although I enjoy being around them.
Do you like animals?
I absolutely enjoy animals, especially cats, dogs and fish. I used to have a cat named Fellini, then a few years later I had Katzio.
Where did you study film?
I studied film in Peru, I won a grant that allowed me to study in a film school run by Armando Robles Godoy, an iconoclast filmmaker back in the 60s but because equipment was very limited and the school was about to close its doors, I also studied film in the University of Lima. However, I realized that in order to make films there you just had to be daring and ask people for favors so I ended up borrowing equipment from a film company, Grupo Chasky and attracting great young talent. I made this very experimental video I called it Transparency Accessible, a film about the search for creation and self identity.
How did you end up in San Francisco involved with Haiku Films?
Back in the 90s I was reading a lot of Haiku poems. Then, when I was writing short stories that eventually became scripts for short films, I realized that Haiku poems had a sort of parallel with short films. Haikus are brief, tell a story and have a surprising ending, just like short films. So I named my company Haiku Films because I was focusing in making short films. I am evolving to feature filmmaking now but I love the name Haiku Films so I don’t think I will change it.
Tell us why and how you were drawn to filmmaking?
I was doing performance art back in Peru and was also in a post-punk band. Video art and film was an essential part of my work and the way I communicated with my audience. When I went to film school I really saw that I could also become an auteur like the masters and apply all the skills I have already been acquiring in other art forms. The most fascinating and fulfilling aspect of filmmaking was and still is that is a powerful way to tell a story and share it with an audience in a way that no other art form can.
Why did you decide on doing a short and not a feature?
With Soledad, I always had the plan to make a feature since day one. I decided to make a short first because I knew that this could help me in two ways: 1) be a visual laboratory to test scenes and storylines that later would be fleshed out in the feature script
2) help me establish myself as a director of narrative films who can really has the potential to make a great feature film.
How did you conceive Soledad Is Gone Forever?
Soledad was born of my desire to understand and relieve the pain that many Chileans have gone through when dealing with the aftermath of the Pinochet era. I was married to a Chilean and have several Chilean friends and they are still trying to heal from their country’s dark past. Soledad Is Gone Forever brings their voices to the screen while at the same time it is a universal metaphor about a brave young woman searching for truth about herself, her family and her country to bring peace to her life.
Who do you think is the audience for Soledad? Why?
SOLEDAD IS GONE FOREVER is an intelligent, visually compelling drama that will have strong appeal to the 18-35 year old market and especially its core Latino audience who will identify with Soledad Gonzalez, the U.S. raised protagonist. The film has the potential to attract international audiences from Latin America and Europe because of the urgency of the story and its potentially cross over, cast both from the U.S. and Latin America.
How did you go about casting the film?
I tried to cast all my actors in San Francisco where I live. However, it was quite challenging to find the lead until I started posting in L.A. and had an audition there. I met this very gifted actress, Carla Sanchez, who was so committed to give her best and willing to go anywhere I needed her to go-emotionally and geographically-to render a woman on the verge, repressed and wounded woman-child such Soledad Gonzalez.
What was the most difficult part of making the film?
The most challenging part was to make a low budget short look like a high budget film. We used a guerrilla filmmaking approach and asked a lot of favors in the film industry and our local San Francisco community, including Latino organizations that were extremely supportive of us and I am very grateful to them. Even Kodak donated film stock and Spypost, a local post-house, donated their telecine and color correction services.
Has the festival circuit been rewarding?
Soledad has been to Cannes Film Market-Short Corner, Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, International Latino Film Festival San Francisco, Anthology Film Archives and several others. It has been rewarding to see our film screening at these festivals and see how the audience react to our story. Yet having a short in a festival doesn’t give you much presence because features get more attention.
How did you become involved in From Here To Awesome?
I have been following Lance Weiler’s career for a while and when I heard that he was spearheading the From Here To Awesome experiment I thought that this would be the best way to immersed myself in DIY online distribution.
I knew that our film had little chances to be part of the showcase because we started our promotion 2 weeks before the deadline. However, we were blown away to see how our online community responded to support our pitch and helped us to become part of the FHTA film festival.
How has the experience been so far?
It has been very rewarding as it has challenge us to truly embrace the spirit of the festival which is expand our audience, find distribution and drive people to the sites where our film is being sold. All of this with several technology tools that me and my team has learned on the spot. Because of our online presence, we have also received invitations to screen in other countries and other cities in the US
Tell us about the struggles and rewards of marketing a short film? How did you go about doing it?
We really have to put on our creative hat to market Soledad. My team and I have been using a combination of traditional and non-traditional marketing. We put together a package that consisted of a press release, a video pitch and announcements in all related film forums and community bulletins. We asked our friends and supporters to disseminate our drive to their own list. It is an endless task. The challenge is always how much time we have to allocate our resources to promoting our film. However, the rewards are fantastic. We have reached a bigger audience beyond the imaginable. And we can do better.
Where are you taking the film next?
We want to screen the short in Latin America and Europe and have both English and Spanish versions ready for DVD release. We also want to reach out the Latino community in the US through both networking sites and community-based screenings.
Do you have any upcoming projects with Haiku Films?
All this work with the short has one goal: to build an audience for our feature film project. We have an award winning script that was also a finalist at the Sundance Screenwriters Lab and now we are looking for a producer and funding.
We are also developing PARALLEL LIES, a romantic comedy based on true accounts.
What are two of your favorite films?
8 1/2 by Fellini and Cinema Paradiso Giuseppe Tornatore
If you could only have one favorite food for the rest of your life what would it be?
Quinoa, it is a Peruvian seed with such a high level of protein that you don’t need to eat meat at all. Even NASA is considering for a source of protein in spaceflights.
What do you admire most in people?
Integrity, humor, perseverance
What to you abhor in people?
Cut-throat behavior, giving up, not taking action
What would you like your tombstone to say?
I actually want my ashes in the Ocean
Where can people find and watch your film?
Soledad Is Gone Forever can be found at following sites:
http://www.indieflix.com/films/soledadisgoneforever
For more information about upcoming screenings they can go to:
http://www.soledadisgoneforever.com
Can we ask who you voted for? Obama
Mabel Valdiviezo, Director "Soledad is Gone Forever"
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conference, short talks and demos, "fireside chats," and roundtables
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