«I think that cinema itself is a country and that all the shoots are similar in that sense. You enter the set and you already know who the director of photography is, simply by their faces,» says Cecilia Roth (Buenos Aires, 65 years old), evoking the universal language used by an industry that little by little seems to be recovering from the setback dealt by the pandemic. The actress launched this reflection this Tuesday at the meeting that she and Jorge Perugorría (Havana, 56 years old) had with journalists on the occasion of the Gold Medal that the Film Academy will award them next Monday, April 25, representing the large group of Latin American actors and actresses who have contributed to Spanish cinema with their performances.
«These two medals should be 200 or 2,000 because they would be for each of the Latin American actors, actresses and directors who have made our cinema a cinema without borders», presented the president of the Academy, Mariano Barroso, who reviewed a career full of unforgettable films such as ‘Fresa y chocolate’, ‘Cachito’ or ‘Bámbola’, in the case of the Cuban; and such as ‘Un lugar en el mundo’ or ‘Arrebato’, in addition to two Goyas for best leading actress for ‘Martín (Hache)’ and ‘Todo sobre mi madre’, in the case of the Argentine. «If we had a star system, it would surely be headed by these two giants of our cinema», Barroso reaffirmed.
The relaxed and intimate meeting served to learn first-hand the opinion of the two actors about the current state of the Latin American industry. Perugorría explained that Cuban cinema “is not in a good moment”, due to the pandemic and the “difficult conditions” that Cuba is going through. “There is no money to make films, really,” he lamented. But he wanted to put things in context. In this sense, he recalled that countries like Colombia, Chile or Uruguay, where just twenty years ago only five or six films were shot a year, “now forty or sixty are shot.” “Cuba had its best moments in the seventies, when there was this whole concept of new Latin American cinema, when the Havana Film Festival was created as a center to bring it together and give it visibility, but now less is being produced, while Argentina, Mexico, Brazil are countries that have an industry and a tradition that have always been there at the forefront.” The actor has taken advantage of the recognition from the Spanish Film Academy to call for more co-productions with Spain and to highlight the importance that Spanish cinema has had in Latin America and vice versa. “Most of the films I have made in Cuba and Latin America have been co-produced by Spain. Now there are fewer possibilities and less interest and I hope that an award like this will serve to stimulate that again,” he claimed.
Roth has also complained about this lack of co-productions between Argentina and Spain, saying that his country of origin “has become a very expensive country” to produce in. But he went further by explaining that interest in making films in Argentina “has decreased” and that the sector does not receive support, partly due to this “false idea” that “people’s pockets are the ones paying for cinema, when it is paid for by the tickets sold and by culture itself.” “Politics has joined forces with the pandemic to do us a lot of harm, but cinema cannot end because it is necessary to tell our story,” he said.
They were more hesitant to pick one of the shoots they have taken part in in Spain, whether it was beautiful or disastrous. “It’s hard to stick to just one anecdote. I always want to repeat it, even in disasters,” said Roth, amused. “I always say that even bad films should always be lucky because one makes them with the same passion,” replied Perugorría, who pointed out, laughing, that the big differences between the various shoots around the world “are in the catering.”
“It wasn’t the time”
Cecilia Roth will be the person who will attend the Cervantes Prize ceremony next Friday, April 22, at the Auditorium of the University of Alcalá de Henares on behalf of the award winner Cristina Peri Rossi, who will not be able to attend due to her delicate state of health.
Despite being asked about this issue, the actress did not want to clarify the link with the award-winning writer. “Something was said that should not have been said and it was not the right time, so I do not want to say anything before this happens,” she said.
And although they still have a long career ahead of them, neither of them set goals. “Personally,” says Roth, “I never think of something like I have this fantasy and I want this. I think of the project that will come or that I am doing and I don’t have strategies to work with anyone. I have never had the feeling that I have left something behind, I will do what life brings.” Perugorría is of the same opinion, and simply says that he is available for the projects that come out and that he assures that he has “the same desire as always” to continue being part of Spanish cinema, “although now there are more opportunities in series.”
The difficulties of distribution
Carmen Maura said a few weeks ago that one of the things she regretted was that many of the works she had done in Latin America had not been seen in Spain. “It is a reality,” Perugorría reflects. “The Achilles heel is in distribution. We continue filming, but the films are not released, they are not seen. Festivals are a bit of a window to see our work there and vice versa, but the commercial release, reaching movie theaters, is still very difficult.” The Argentine actress agrees with him, predicting that it will become more and more difficult “due to the weight of the platforms, which are necessary to reach a lot of people,” but which, in her opinion, “should not overshadow the arrival in theaters.” In addition, she says, movie theaters “are the big American blockbusters and the films we make do not have that possibility due to distribution, because they are less box office in the conventional sense of the word. It is regrettable and very sad.”
They deny, however, that the content on the platforms is becoming homogenized and is ruining the richness of the audiovisual industry in each country. “I have seen very good, free and risky things on the platforms, another thing is that they are not at the top of the lists, but that also happens in the theaters,” says Roth. In this regard, the Cuban has pointed out that services like Filmin “are giving us the possibility of returning to our cinema, so that young viewers can rediscover films they have not seen. The only thing that always gives me a bit of a hard time is that the magic of going to the cinema is lost.”
Finally, the two actors have spoken about how they have managed the ups and downs of a profession that surely has very little. “There is a time for actors when perhaps they call you less to make films, but there is always the theatre, and one reinvents oneself as well. I am not one to worry too much when these things happen, but to reinvent myself. Right now I am in charge of the Gibara International Film Festival. We suspended it due to the pandemic and we are going to resume it in August. And it is another way of supporting cinema and supporting the work that my colleagues do, of creating a platform where that work can be seen. When I don’t have work as an actor, I have gotten behind the camera, I have also made documentaries, feature films. One is always reinventing oneself,” he comments.
For his part, Roth says he doesn’t worry too much about these things, although he says he has been “very lucky” with everything he has worked on. “I also do theatre and invent possibilities for things with other colleagues. Especially during the pandemic, I have even done theatre on WhatsApp,” he concludes.
#Cecilia #Roth #Politics #pandemic #lot #harm #Verdad