Nominated for Best Short Film at the 2019 Melbourne International Film Festival.
Winner of various film awards.
1. Beyond the obvious message, "body-shaming is bad", what more should audiences be taking away from this film?
I’d like each audience member to find their own answer to that. To leave the film perturbed and questioning.
2. Why do you feel this particular subject is worth exploring and how did that affect the creation of this project?
It was the motor behind the project. The issue of bullying is something that touches me deeply. I read yesterday that serious cases of bullying have risen by 240% last year in Spain. And those are the ones we know about, with social media making it even worse. There is no safe space anymore.
3. Why do you feel cinema is a necessary storytelling medium when we already have theater, art, books, and music?
Well, I wish it weren’t so but most people no longer read or go to museums. I love film both as an art form and as entertainment. For most to open a book on a particular subject there has to be a previous interest in that theme. Films, especially genre movies, are like a Trojan horse for social matters. I doubt that people went to see “Us” expecting to watch a movie about class and economic discrepancies. I don’t think film can really change the world but it makes you experience other points of view, and that’s always enriching. That’s why representation matters.
4. Where do you find inspiration as a filmmaker, and where would you recommend aspiring filmmakers to look for inspiration?
I find inspiration in everything. Music, films, social media, books. But mostly, life. I’d say, go out and live a little. You don’t have to have money to just hang out. If you all watch the same Netflix shows and stay at home, we’ll have some boring years of storytelling ahead.
5. Do you plan to tackle similar subject matter in future projects, and if so which do you have in mind?
Sure. I love Bong Joo-ho and the way he mixes genres with the background of the social-political context of his country. This is what I’d like to do, have a new shortcoming up “There Will be Monsters” and it tackles something like that.
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