From Brazil to the Bronx: Meet the Directors Behind the Latino Short Films at Urbanworld

09.25.15 at 20:09

Lack of diversity in the entertainment industry has surprisingly and justifiably become a hot topic these past few weeks. Of course, it’s not news, but there’s something hopeful about recent outcries against the lack of women in late night television and the absurdity behind the fact that a black woman didn’t win an Emmy for Best Actress in a Drama Series until 2015.

The Urbanworld Film Festival is ahead of the game in terms of honoring multicultural talent. Diversity is the norm at the New York City festival, which features work from top actors, writers, and filmmakers of color. From Jane the Virgin’s abuelita Ivonne Coll, to American Ballet Theatre’s Misty Copeland, it’s one of the few times in Hollywood where the majority of participants aren’t straight white men. We got the chance to interview some of the talent behind the Latino short films and got them to open up a little about their cultural identity and their favorite movie of the year.

The Urbanworld Film Festival runs September 23 – 27, 2015.

Alexandre Peralta, Director of 'Looking at the Stars'

Where are you from?
I’m originally from São Paulo, Brazil, but I’m now based in Los Angeles.

What city do you call home?
São Paulo.

What made you want to become a filmmaker?
Growing up, I’ve always been a really shy kid and it has always been a lot easier for me to communicate through art. When I started making little films with my friends for fun, I found something that I really loved to do. I’m still developing my “language,” but I believe that as a filmmaker I learned to “speak” more fluently.

What inspired you to make this film?
My documentary is about a ballet school for the blind in São Paulo, Brazil. I’m from São Paulo, so when I first heard about it I had curiosity and I thought, how does it work? And when I saw it I thought, “I have to tell this story.” It’s just so beautiful – their posture and how proud they are of who they are in spite of all the challenges they have to face every day. So from curiosity I started really caring about those people and I just wanted to know them more and know about their lives. They put so much emotion into the dance and I wanted to know everything behind it.

What was the most rewarding part about making this film?
Working with an incredible group of people and getting to know our characters.

What do you hope to get out of the festival?
I hope to continue inspiring more people with the story we are telling.

How, if at all, did your background help shape this film?
I didn’t want to make a documentary only based on facts and numbers, I wanted to make a film that would allow people to have a strong emotional connection to our story and characters. I think that my Latino background helped me convey these emotions in a different and warmer way, the way I saw people around me doing when I was growing up in Brazil.

What is your favorite movie from 2015?
The Second Mother.

Toti Loureiro, Director of 'Times of Competition'

Where are you from?
São Paulo, Brazil.

What city do you call home?
São Paulo.

What made you want to become a filmmaker?
We both have a great love for cinema and we wanted to use this sacred form of art to express contradictions and themes that are part of our world and typical for Brazilian reality. Just like Tolstoy said: if you wanna be universal, begin by portraying your own village.

What inspired you to make this film?
Vestibular (Times of Competition) is one of hardest moments in the life of young Brazilian people. As it is a moment full of pressure, competition, and tension, it reveals many contradictions from our educational system. Besides the importance of this issue, we saw that there was no film about it, so we decided to do it ourselves.

What was the most rewarding part about making this film?
The most rewarding thing was seeing how our movie touched people from different countries and different cultures, despite portraying a very specific and contradictory issue about Brazilian reality.

What do you hope to get out of the festival?
The first thing we hope to achieve is a reflection from the public about the reality we are portraying. But from a pragmatic point of view, as we are still starting our journey in the film industry, the prestige of festivals like Urbanworld is extremely helpful for our career. And if we are lucky enough, we hope to get some awards. ?

How, if at all, did your background help shape this film?
It helped shape everything. As the main theme of our film is the Brazilian educational system and it was conceived by a Brazilian crew and shot in our country, every single aspect of Times of Competition breathes Latino air.

What is your favorite movie from 2015?
Wild Tales.

Renee Marie Petropoulos, Director of 'Ana'

Where are you from?
I’m from Sydney, Australia. My family is Greek though (hence the elaborate last name), my grandparents immigrated to Australia in the aftermath of World War II.

What city do you call home?
I’ve lived all over the place in Australia and across the world but I definitely call Sydney home. Even though I’ve lived in New York for three years now, it’s always a pleasure to go home and be near the ocean and the beach. It’s a very different vibe; everyone is so laid back.

What made you want to become a filmmaker?
I was always interested in the arts. I was a painter all through high school and my undergraduate years, I did theater and photography, but it was never really enough to communicate the stories and ideas I wanted to tell. Cinema is such a powerful medium and I hope to continue to use it to explore more unique and diverse stories.

What inspired you to make this film?
What inspired me was the fragile relationship between a parent and child that Chloe Lenihan, the writer, had crafted in the script. It is one that isn’t perfect but flawed and complex. Also the very process of prison rehabilitation was deeply important for this film. It isn’t a happy reunion for some families: it can be fraught with tension, regret and fragility and that is what I wanted to depict on screen.

What was the most rewarding part about making this film?
For me the most rewarding part of this film was working with the cast. We had two very strong leads and through rehearsal and improvisation we shaped the script together. Even on set when we were shooting a tricky scene we would all collaborate together to try and get the most honest, true performance. Sometimes this was challenging, but because each of us wanted the best possible performance, we got there in the end.

What do you hope to get out of the festival?
I hope that the film will reach a new audience and open up discussion about the issues it explores. But I am also eager to meet aspiring filmmakers like myself!

How, if at all, did your background help shape this film?
Unfortunately I don’t have a Latino background but I was lucky enough to collaborate with various members of my cast and crew who are Latino. They helped shape this film in terms of specificity, nuance, and perspective. I wouldn’t have been able to make this film without them. Also a Writing colleague of mine at Columbia, Missy Hernandez, was a great collaborator and really should be credited as a co-writer – she helped Chloe and I tremendously with this film throughout pre-production, casting, and all the way to edit room.

What is your favorite movie from 2015?
So far, I’d have to say Diary of a Teenage Girl. The film explored a girl coming of age and exploring sex in a very unconventional but refreshingly honest way. The director never judged the protagonist. But that being said, I am Australian, so Mad Max: Fury Road is also up there.

Adel Morales, Director of 'Since I Laid Eyes'

Where are you from? What city do you call home?
I am a Nuyorican from the Bronx. Last stop on the 2 train. My parents were born in Puerto Rico.

What made you want to become a filmmaker?
I wanted to become a filmmaker after acting for several years and getting tired of being offered the drug dealer or car mechanic roles. I wanted to be in films playing a cool uncle or a businessman or a high school teacher. So, I decided to take my master’s degree in English and put it to further use by writing screenplays. This inevitably led me to wanting to direct and produce them. Interestingly, it was my role in the Sundance film Gun Hill Road, where I played a car mechanic that led me to go back to school and pursue a Master of Fine Arts at NYU’s Graduate Film Program.

What was the most rewarding part about making this film?
The most rewarding part about making this film was getting the chance to work with two actors that I’ve known for several years. I’ve known Gina Rodriguez since 2010; Berto Colon and I used to audition for the same roles years ago.

What do you hope to get out of the festival?
Out of the festival, I hope to get more eyeballs on my work, so that people may spread the word about me as a filmmaker who doesn’t shy away from telling truthful urban stories that focus on moral issues.

How, if at all, did your background help shape this film?
My Latino background did not shape this film. What did shape it was the very weak stories we see on the news that deal with teacher-student relationships and I wanted to go deeper into one of those relationships.

What is your favorite movie from 2015?
Avengers: Age of Ultron