FILM
FRINGE! Queer Film Festival 2018
Antonio Zucherino
‘The Dilemma / La disyuntiva’
ARGENTINA
SHORTS: F.O.C.K: FABULOUS ORIFICES AND CONSENSUAL KINKS
SAT NOV 17, 21:00, HACKNEY HOUSE | 13 min | FREE
The impersonality of a horny encounter turns out to have more meaning than they thought.
Hi Antonio your short film La disyuntiva/The dilemma will be screened at Fringe! Queer Film Fest this November, what does it mean for you to be at the festival?
The Fest will be a great opportunity to exhibit my movie in places I never thought I would be able to reach. This exhibition will be the premiere of the short in the United Kingdom. “The Dilemma” was filmed in a very independent manner, with a team of great professionals and friends that put their trust in this project and in my wish to materialize it.
El Festival es una gran oportunidad de exhibir mi película en lugares donde nunca pensé que podía llegar. Esta exhibición es la premiere del cortometraje en Reino Unido. “The dilemma” fue filmado de manera muy independiente, con un equipo de grandes profesionales y amigos que confiaron en el proyecto y en mi deseo de poder materializarlo.
How important is it for LGBTQ+ films like yours to have a platform like Fringe! Queer Film Fest to be screened?
I think film festivals are extremely important events. It’s difficult for independent filmmakers to be shown in big screens, and these festivals are the cultural events that allow us to reach bigger audiences and share with other people from different parts of the world what we do.
In Argentina, I have been working for 10 years as an organizer for a LGTBQ+ festival called ESPACIO QUEER. I think it’s important to produce movies but to also guarantee the construction of platforms and spaces where these movies can be shared.
Creo que los Festivales de cine son eventos sumamente importantes. Para los realizadores independientes, es difícil llegar a grandes pantallas, y los Festivales de cine son los eventos culturales que nos permiten llegar a grandes audiencias y compartir con otras personas de distintas partes del mundo lo que hacemos.
En Argentina, trabajo como programador hace ya 10 años de un Festival de cine LGBTQ+ llamado ESPACIO QUEER. Creo que no solamente es importante producir películas, sino también garantizar la construcción de plataformas y espacios donde lo que hacemos sea difundido.
Do you think these types of film festivals open up LGBTQ+ lives and stories to a wider, perhaps mainstream audience?
Of course. The lives of LGTBQ+ continuously break with the norm of this society. To spread our stories, our daily lives is an act of militancy in a world where right-wing ideologies continue to advance in every moment.
Por supuesto. La vida de las personas LGBTQ+ rompen permanentemente con los esquemas de esta sociedad. Difundir nuestras historias, nuestras vidas cotidianas, es un acto de militancia en un mundo donde las ideologías de derecha avanzan a cada momento.
Tell me a little bit about La disyuntiva/The dilemma, how did this film come about?
The short was born as an excuse for me to experiment with certain resources in imagery, montage and superposition. Nevertheless, it was fundamental for me to be able to portray the representation of a sexual encounter between two men outside of the canonical models of body and sex in the majority of LGTBQ+ and mainstream movies.
El cortometraje nació como una excusa para poder experimentar determinados recursos de la imagen, el montaje y la superposición. Sin embargo, me parecía fundamental poder retratar la representación de un encuentro sexual entre dos hombres por fuera de los modelos canónicos del cuerpo y el sexo en la mayoría de las películas LGBTQ+ y del cine mainstream.
What was the inspiration behind your screenplay?
The script is very simple as it simply portrays a casual sexual encounter between the two characters. The importance falls precisely on in the exploration of the representation of the body and of the resources of the audiovisual language.
El guión es muy sencillo, ya que el cortometraje cuenta simplemente un encuentro sexual casual entre los dos personajes. La importancia incidía justamente en la exploración en la representación del cuerpo y de los recursos del lenguaje audiovisual.
What were the biggest challenges you faced making La disyuntiva/The dilemma?
I think the biggest challenge was how to approach the different ways of creating an explicit sex scene. In cinema, there are still many taboos about the relation of how to film bodies and sex. Thankfully, I could count with two actors that agreed to be filmed and who worked on the proposal with a lot of professionalism.
Creo que el mayor desafío fue abordar los modos de llevar adelante una escena de sexo explícito. En el cine, todavía hay muchos tabús en relación a cómo filmar los cuerpos y el sexo. Por suerte, conté con dos actores que accedieron a ser filmados y trabajaron la propuesta con mucho profesionalismo.
Have you always wanted to be a filmmaker?
Yes, actually. I never thought about dedicating myself to anything else. I have been a cinephile since I was very young, and I was always very interested in the cinema as a medium in where I could express myself.
La verdad que sí. Nunca pensé en dedicarme a otra cosa. Soy cinéfilo desde muy chico, y siempre me interesó el cine como medio para expresarme.
As a filmmaker how important is the collaborative process for you?
It is fundamental. I believe that it’s impossible to be able to film without a team. Our work involves a permanent collaborative process where, far from looking at it as an obstruction, I believe that it is most important to be able to develop relationships with colleagues that contribute with ideas and that help you develop as a director.
Es fundamental. Creo que es imposible filmar sin un equipo. Nuestro trabajo implica un proceso colaborativo permanente, donde lejos de verlo como una obstrucción, creo que es sumamente importante poder relacionarte con colegas que aportan con ideas y le ponen el cuerpo al desarrollo de uno como director.
"I think the important thing is to MAKE and to not stop producing"
How much has your approach to your work changed since you started out?
I believe that it’s important, especially when treating LGTBQ+ themes, to always have an ideological and political view in how one approaches the stories, and I believe that one develops that perspective as one matures and starts to see things that can be done in other possible ways.
Creo que es importante, y sobretodo en el abordaje de las temáticas LGBTQ+, tener siempre una mirada ideológica y política en el abordaje de las historias. Y creo que esa perspectiva uno la gana a medida que crece y empieza a ver las cosas de otras maneras posibles.
Do you have any advice or tips for any fellow filmmaker?
I think the important thing is to MAKE and to not stop producing. As long as you can be genuine with what your intentions are, the results will then come on their own.
Creo que lo importante es HACER, y no dejar de producir. Siempre y cuando se sea genuino con la intención que uno tiene, luego los resultados llegan solos.
And finally, what do you hope people will take away from La disyuntiva/The dilemma?
I’m interested in people knowing and being interested in alternative ways of narration and in people sharing with me their views and their assessment of this simple story. Only that.
Me interesa que conozcan y se interesen por las formas alternativas de narrar, y puedan compartir conmigo sus miradas y apreciaciones sobre esta historia sencilla. Solo eso.