by the El Reportero’s news services
09 La PelículaThe team behind Spain’s “Aquel no era yo” (“That Wasn’t Me”) were at a reception on the roof of the Andaz West Hollywood Hotel as part of their campaign for the Oscar in the category of Best Short Film, Live Action.
Director Esteban Crespo, star Gustavo Salmeron and members of the crew screened the film for around 100 invited guests, including a substantial contingent from Southern California’s Spanish expat community.
The event, organized by the Madrid regional government and the Spanish Tourist Office in Los Angeles, showcased both Crespo’s film and the attractions of Spain’s capital as a vacation destination.
“I’m enjoying the experience,” the filmmaker told Efe as he gazed down on the city.
Since arriving here at the beginning of the month, Crespo and his colleagues have been taking every opportunity to get “Aquel no era yo” in front of the Academy voters before the March 2 Oscar gala.
“I came with the intention to do everything we could to win that Oscar and we are calm in the knowledge that we have done everything,” he said. “If we don’t win it’s because there is another film that’s better, or because it just works out that way.”
Crespo sees The Voorman Problem, featuring Hobbit star Martin Freeman, as the main rival to his film.
“If you have an actor of that level, your campaign is at another level than ours,” the Spaniard acknowledged.
“I am very conscious of how the Academy works. The best films don’t win,” Crespo said. “For me, in fact, I love watching the ceremony, (but) the film I want never wins.”
Chilean producer unveils first film shot entirely on mobile phones
The first Chilean film shot with mobile phones – “09 La Pelicula” – is a suspense movie produced by Martin Carcamo and filmed with the telephones of its leading characters.
“Three cell phones are filming at the same time during the movie,” Carcamo said in an interview with Efe.
Carcamo, a television host, is making his debut as a screenwriter and executive producer with this creation.
The film, hyperrealistic in style, tells the story from the subjective points of view of Carolina, played by actress Juanita Ringeling, Andrea (Isidora Cabezon) and Florencia (Catalina González).
“It’s a different kind of story, a little dirty in style and was filmed by the actresses themselves,” Carcamo said.
The plot follows the experiences of three journalism students who shut themselves up in a house to work on a university project, when suddenly police warn them that just a few kilometers (miles) away, a couple has been murdered.
The college girls, forced to stay in the house, decide to do a report on the psychological processes they suffer throughout that day.
“It’s a realistic film that could really have happened. Youths use their mobile phones to make videos of themselves at a party or when they’re engaged in some activity, but these girls are filming each other during an entire day,” Carcamo, who took part in the production of “Gloria,” a prizewinning movie at the Berlin Intertionnational Film Festival, said.
“09 La Pelicula,” the first work by director Javier Aguirrezabal, will screen in Chilean theaters starting March 13.
Its creators foresee the movie doing the rounds of international film festivals in the near future.
