Between 2018 and 2019, the Puno filmmaker Henry Vallejo Torres he sold sandwiches at a mobile stand in the city of Puno.
At some point I was his client. Other times I was in charge of the business while he went to stock up on supplies. The future filmmaker, graduated from the National University of the Altiplano, he found no other means of subsistence to pay three bank loans. The loans were intended to finance the filming of the movie “Manco Cápac.”
At that time, the film was 95% complete. There were five scenes left to finish the recordings with all the actors. That meant investment in logistics and other expenses. Then came the edit.
Two years after these incidents, the film is shortlisted at the 2022 Oscar Awards.
The Avant Premiere of the film in Puno was on Wednesday, December 1.
YOU CAN SEE: Director of the film Manco Cápac: Puno cinema can have an international level
Vallejo was accompanied by his brothers Flor, César, Carlos and José Vallejo Torres, fundamental pieces in the project. Also in attendance were Juan Vallejo and Maritza Torres, the parents and supporters of their children’s projects.
Henry Vallejo, in a conversation on the phone, recalls that uncertain stage of the shoot.
“There was no money, he had three loans. Finishing the film was important to me. When you have loans and you have no income, everything falls apart. (…). We were already going to court for the debts. Time was running out. There my mother took center stage and lent us money, “he said.
According to legend, Manco Cápac, emerged from the waters of Lake Titicaca, together with his partner Mama Ocllo, to found the Inca empire in Cusco. “The film was shot in honor of the Incas (and that myth),” reiterates Vallejo, who is also a tour guide.
The script summarizes the story of Elisbán, whose protagonist is the man from Puno Jesus Luque. He migrates to the city and suffers discrimination and social prejudice.
Is it worth investing so much in cinema? We asked him. “(…) Cinema is a passion for which one risks (…) When the art or film bug enters your head, it’s like a disease, you can’t get it out of your head and you risk things, “he said.
YOU CAN SEE: The perseverance of Jesús Luque, protagonist of the film Manco Cápac
Henry Vallejo has experienced his own film to take to the cinema “Manco Cápac”. Becoming a fast food vendor is not easy. In addition to business skills, you have to fight against social prejudice, confesses.
Coincidentally, it is the same message that he proposes in the film. Elisbán, despite social indifference and vicissitudes, makes it clear that we must not give up or go back in life.
The Puno filmmaker reveals that the plot is a true story based on the life of one of his high school classmates who was punished and treated indifferently at school. “There is little empathy with the other person (migrant) that we do not want to solve and art also serves to make people reflect ”, he says.
“I learned that when you tell things you have experienced, it is more real. (…) It is easy to write a script with external conflict. The scriptwriters know. They start a story with one shot, they die and you already have the audience trapped. We have dispensed with things like that. (…). (We show) the little empathy that we do not care to solve it. What does that mean? That education is not resolved in the country ”, he assures.
Henry Vallejo has already started writing his next screenplay. Hope not to turn to sandwiches again to realize this new work. Manco Cápac hits theaters on December 9.
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