TYDE HAUS

Art and film can be very intertwined and yet so different, so I was wondering what inspires you and why? 

I've never been a huge fan of a specific artist. If anything, I will look for inspiration from specific artworks. But I feel differently about filmmaking, and I do have some heroes in film. I guess it's because, when you make a movie, you have to apply your talents to many different things. This also explains the influence in my work, because I've done a lot of different stuff. The idea of the auteur is something that is appealing to me and I would say that Polly Platt is a big inspiration, some of my favorite films were produced by her. I also have other people I admire, especially because they were immigrants who just arrived in Hollywood, and they had to sort of start over again, like Billy Wilder or Otto Ernst Lubitz. I find those sorts of stories very inspiring. 

Are there any movies that you've seen where you thought ‘I want to create something like this’? 

Definitely a lot. I started with Asian and European cinema when I was very little and as a teenager, I went full circle to really admiring Hollywood. The 400 Blows was a movie that I found appealing when I was young. The romanization of more American films and the parody of it, from a European perspective I always thought was kind of funny. I saw The Wayward Cloud by Tsai Ming-liang when I was very young and I think that kind of marked my interests, but obviously I didn't know I could even be a filmmaker because it seemed very far away from my possibilities.

I was also pondering over if you have any core memory as a kid or now as an adult, that you keep revisiting and feel inspired by? 

One of the things that I'm very grateful to, and have always been, is free access to culture, which is very prevalent in Spain and in Europe in general. In the UK there's very good radio and very well researched shows and stuff. I learned a lot of the things I know today, from those culture radios. I was actually talking to my boyfriend about it yesterday, because there's a story that I go back to a lot, and it’s the story of Ervin Nyiregyhazi, who was a piano player that ended up living in Hollywood and becoming friends with Bela Lugosi. I have very good memories of listening to this as a kid and imagining the whole world, like, a sad, old Hollywood. So, I think that's a core memory. 

AMALIA wears TRENCH and SHOES by GUCCI

Do you channel this feeling when working on projects or do you create new memories?

It varies, but I guess I enjoy learning new things. Some instances that I have vivid memories of, is when something captivates my mind and sparks something in me, which is either from books or films. Recently, one thing that really influenced me, because it's a book that I read over time. It’s called The Wall. It's about a woman who lives alone. Something happens and she's in the mountains, in the middle of nowhere, and all humans have disappeared. She's only in the company of a dog, cow, and a cat. She's sort of trying to figure out how to survive, and everything is like an inner monologue of her life with these animals. That really captivated me. I think that's something that made me very excited, because I often have that relationship with my animals, where I spend a long period of quiet time, like nonverbal communication with my animals, and the book sort of explains that very well, so I have a very vivid memory of reading that book and yearning for that sort of thing. 

Do you have an animal that you feel most connected to? 

My dog and cat, I obviously feel a connection to. I find it very beautiful to be completely attached to an animal, being able to exchange all these emotions just through nonverbal communication. 

You said you like learning new things. Is there anything that you have recently learned that you were surprised by it could be anything. 

The making of my first film was life changing professionally. It allowed me to continue making movies. But Magic Farm, I think, pushed me to learn things that were more influential in my personal life. It pushed me to do something in Argentina, where I'm from. I never lived there, but all of my families still there. It was a good way of learning and also to be closer to my grandmother, and part of my mom's side. My family are from the rural areas of Argentina, and my great grandfather is a Gaucho. My grandma and her sisters like to ride horses, not English riding, but cowboy riding - the unruly riding of horses and taming them as well, while being in the wild, just things like that. I also decided to learn English well, so that was a big learning experience and to learn horsemanship and read about horsemanship in English. I never grew up with horses or dogs, so I never knew how to approach them, so the training of horses and dogs was very new to me. This pushed me to get a dog for the first time in my life.

AMALIA wears DRESS by FEY FEY WORLDWIDE, SHOES by PALOMA WOOL

I was wondering how you would like to be remembered. As an artist, do you create something that you hope will have a long-lasting effect? 

That's hard to do. I think the only thing you can aim for, is to do something good. If it's good, it'll have a lasting effect and that means it's not a fad. Especially working in film, it's very important, because film takes so long to make, so you can’t really rely on that factor. I think the only thing you can try to do, is make something good and timeless and that’s true to yourself, and then, you know, if it's popular, it's popular, it is not, it doesn't matter. But I think that's the only way to do it. 

Is popularity something that is important to you? 

Obviously there's some people that claim they don't give a shit about their audience. But I think the audience is a big part of making movies. People go and sit to watch films in theaters, and I think part of the art of filmmaking is how it's received and trying to tell a story. People can interpret things one way or another, but I think the root of a story is trying to tell the audience something, and you can only try your best to create that. Popularity is tricky because there's so much that has to do with luck in the making of movies in particular. You can make a film, and it's a great film, but it's not the right time for it, you know? and it falls flat, but then it gets discovered 10 years later. Other times you make a film that nobody believes in, but something happens, and that film becomes extremely popular because it touches a subject matter that became popular. But I think that's a part of film making. The main thing should be, trying to make a good film, because you can't really control other events. 

You never really know how people are going to perceive things. If you feel unsure about what you are creating, is there someone you turn to for reassurance and guidance? 

The one thing that I find more appealing about filmmaking is that next time around, I do have mentors and people that I trust, and I can share my ideas with or get advice from and that's something that I personally find beautiful. I can be too much in my head, sometimes, and when making art it is harder to process, because you feel very lonely, so it’s nice to have that external push. It's nice to have friends telling me, if something doesn't make any sense or, asking what I'm trying to say with this artwork. But in film, I think part of the process is to have so many people involved in reading your script to see how it comes across. As I said before, filmmaking is about trying to tell stories, and if you fail at telling that story, there's always possibilities to fix it, but that's because you're working with a lot of people along the way. I definitely like that aspect. I think it's weird for a lot of people, especially in the art world, that there's so many steps in filmmaking and that it's so collaborative. When people give you feedback, you can decide to take it or leave it.

AMALIA wears TOP by FEY FEY WORLDWIDE, PANTS and SHOES by PALOMA WOOL

Do you have a favorite recollection from creating or being on set for Magic Farm?

I like referencing my own artworks in my films, especially when it comes to set design. I used to do installations, so I reference my installation work sometimes in the design of the sets. For example, in Magic Farm, I was very excited to play with the Kitchen. There are all these references to Paris, and it’s inspired by a series of installations that I did. I think the most beautiful moments are when magic happens and the camera is rolling and you're able to capture something that is kind of crazy and magical at the same time.

Did any aspect of your everyday routine become vital for shooting Magic Farm? 

Sadly, I think both in El Planeta and in Magic Farm, because I was in front of the camera a lot, I didn't have the privilege to have any of that. Because I was multitasking so much, I needed to lose my sense of self and just be ready for whatever. That could mean wearing the character's costume, even though I'm sick of it that day. There's no time for me to have any sort of, like, quirks of that kind. If I was only behind the camera, I would probably have more time to indulge in that. I was, mostly just surviving, making sure that everything was going well, as a director and producer, your responsibilities are putting everyone else first. So, every actor's quirk came first and me, I'm just sort of like a doormat you know. The only thing I can do is to make sure that I'm healthy every day, so I can continue doing what I'm supposed to be doing. I have a physical disability, so everything revolves around that for me. I direct with a cane. So maybe that's my quirk.  

Can you tell me a little about your next project? 

The script has been done for like a long time, so right now it's more about getting back into the groove of thinking about the film. The movie is based on a short story that I wrote called The German Teacher.