By Jorge Gil Angel |
Bogotá (EFE).- For seven years, the Colombian director Josephine Landertinger Forero ventured to capture the passage of time in “I am Cris from Tierra Bomba”, a film that tells the story of a young Afro-Colombian who dreams of becoming a famous actor .
“From the beginning, the artistic bet was to capture the passage of time and the initial premise was: ‘OK, that person is accompanied until they graduate from acting school and is accompanied at the moments in which they manage to enter a telenovela, a series’”, says the director in an interview with EFE in Bogotá.
However, he reveals that “at some point, studying acting, Cristian understands that he is also acting in real life, that he is putting on masks, that he is playing different roles, for example that of the good son who pleases the mother who is community leader, to that of the boy who studies acting to please the film director”.
“There the film and his life take a turn. He says: ‘I don’t want to act anymore, I want to be myself’. And well, that is the process that is finally captured in the film, in these seven years of filming and then in the two years of post-production”, adds Josephine Landertinger.
Freedom, diversity and identity
The film is a journey in which Landertinger portrays the transformation and struggles experienced by Cristian, whom he met while visiting Tierra Bomba, an island located off Cartagena de Indias that has been experiencing difficulties for several years due to coastal erosion.
“I met Cristian going to Tierra Bomba (…) I began to write a documentary on this topic (erosion), I began to investigate this environmental issue. And one day I arrived in Tierra Bomba, Cristian’s mother could not receive me, ”she says.
Cristian received him in his place: “that tall, histrionic character, with his afro, and there was immediate empathy and something that also captivated me, like an aura (…) I had that intuition that there was a story behind that” , recounts Josephine Landertinger.
The film -by Global Eyes Production, in co-production with Black Frame Digital and Iman Music with the support of Futuro Digital, Wide Angle Films, Goethe Institut and ProImágenes Colombia- was developed under the premise that “his dream was to be a professional actor”. , because he considered that this could give him opportunities.
“I told him that I found it interesting, I am a film director and what if I follow you for many years in this search to become a professional actor. He agreed,” adds Josephine Landertinger.
The relationship between Josephine Landertinger and Cristian
To tell Cristian’s story, director Josephine Landertinger decided to get involved and published the conversations she had with him, as well as the young man’s posts on Instagram.
“Cristian’s story also affected me as a person, those lines between filmmaker, partner, friend and confidante are erased. For me it was the only way to do it in a more transparent way, I wanted to show how that process was for me and that the viewers could feel it that way. That seemed the most authentic to me, ”she says.
In this process, he lived firsthand the decisions that the protagonist was making, which opened a great discussion that he described as “sociological, almost philosophical” about life.
“I always defended that not everything is our fault, because sometimes you are born in conditions that you do not decide. Life gives you some tools and you can get ahead, but it is also very easy to see it, perhaps, from a privilege, ”he explains.
She adds that when “he decided he didn’t want to study,” she went into “shock” and told him: “‘Cristian, you can’t leave the university, that’s what’s going to get you ahead, that’s the only option you have in your life'”.
But he realized that in the end he was the product of “a society that punishes those who are not in the supposed white, heterosexual norm” and that did not let him be himself.
For this reason, she concludes that the production process of the film was very important to her because she understood that she is neither a spokesperson for diversity nor is her gaze “totally deconstructed.”
“I also had to do an exercise in not being too judgmental and letting the character be what it is,” says Josephine Landertinger.