How long have you been doing movies? 

When I was in school, around 1978 when I was 9 years old, we made a short film in 16 mm. I had the main role, but for some strange reasons I never saw it and the film got lost. That was a trauma, and it kept me away for even thinking about making a film once again... But time has passed, and in 2003 I made the experimental short film “Interactivity” in 35mm. It was selected and screened at Belo Horizonte International Film Festival in my hometown capital of Minas Gerais state, in Brazil.

 

How did you decide to start making movies?

For the same reason I started writing music, to make art that was not available from outside sources, expressing my deep feelings and own vision of the Universe… While I always enjoyed great music and films from other people, for me there is something lacking, that I try to fulfill with my own creations...

 

Why did you do this project?

To not go crazy once for all? “Learn to love to wait” is a silent short film (no dialogues) based on the song of the same name on my album “Identity crisis”. My life was in chaos in France in 2019 and I had to go to Catalonia to finish the recording and mixing of my album. I rented an old house at La Cellera de Ter, La Selva, Girona, up the mountains, in the forest, close to a road and started to work frenetically  to end the project before the deadline on December the 11th 2020. I felt deeply in love with the people and land of Catalonia, I felt at home since day one. When the Covid pandemic and the lock down happened, leaving me unable to leave, I had to keep busy and save my sanity by creating art that would help me survive. Seeing my car parked outside the house for so long and unable to travel made me have the idea of making a short film about my song, a lock down movie. So I hired my wonderful neighbor next door Toni to play “God” in my film. He has never acted before, and he did an impressive job, specially because we were all wearing masks...  Once I could travel I shot the scene with another friend, that I call the Barber of Girona. Less known than the Barber of Sevilla, he can do special magical jobs for me and my film.  The one eyed cat from another neighbor became my friend and became one of the main characters on the film. She proved to be one of the best actors I ever worked with. Even the frog from the garden joined in… It is important to note that no animal was warmed or even told what to do to make this short film. I shot countless hours and figured out how to connect the scenes while making the final edit. That would be extremely important to me to screen my film at Costa Brava Film Festival so I could invite my friends and of course Toni and the Barber of Girona to attend… In my dreams even the one eyed cat and the frog would be there...

 

(If you can say). How much budget did you have to do this project?

None, zero, nada, only “one idea in the head and a camera at hand” like Brazilian film maker Glauber Rocha said...

 

Was it self-funded or did you get budget/producers/investors?

All my films so far are no-budget/no script, and this one even more so.

It is all talent and hard work and absolutely no money at all... 

 

How long did it take from the initial idea to being able to release?

In all it took from October 2019 when I arrived at la Cellera de Ter until February 2022 when I started sending the final version to film festivals around the world… Two years of filming and one more year editing until every frame was in resonance with the music...

 

Are you happy with the result?

Yes, more than happy, I am glad with the final result.. I am suspect to say, but it is my best film so far. I won my second award as a film maker. Every frame and musical note is a piece of my soul and finishing it meant I survived everything that was happening to me and the rest of the world… In the sound track we have a lot of superstars like Lenny White (from Miles Davis Band/Return to Forever) on drums. Billy Sherwood (from YES, Asia) on lead vocals and bass. Adam Holzman (from Miles Davis Band/Steve Wilson Band)  on keyboards. And Rachel Flowers who plays the first guitar solo and sings like an angel...

 

What phase is this project in right now? Are you in the initial phase of sending it to festivals, middle phase or finishing the circuit?

I would say I am in the middle phase now. The film won “Best Experimental Short Film” at Portugal Indie festival one year ago in February 2023. It was also selected at the European Music Video Awards. And I traveled to London UK last September for the screening at the Portobello Film Festival. Lots of festivals has shown interest in the film, so now I am sending it all over the planet...

 

How has your experience been with the festivals so far? Where do you think they should improve?

I am an outsider in music and films, most film festivals have trouble with my short film because it is a silent film with no dialogues based in a song. So sometimes they think it is a music video and don’t want to select it. Sometimes it is selected as a music video in music video festivals, and of course I am ok with that. It is on the eye of the beholder. It is a live action fiction film for sure, but not a traditional one. It is a music video too, obviously, but not in the traditional sense, no one is playing or singing on the screen. You have the song, the silent film with no dialogues, that can work one without the other. When you get the song and the film together you get something else, there is one added layer of meaning… In fact once the film starts the audience forget they are listening to the music and watching  the images, they got immersed in the film. Only at the final credits, when there is only silence people noticed the music has ended... So festivals could be more open, it is 2024 after all, people like me trying to find new ways of expressing themselves should find more open doors...

 

Normally, filmmakers use many references, favorite directors, favorite movies, etc. Were you inspired by any director or film? If so, tell us your references.
I am inspired by Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Jean Cocteau, Luis Buñuel and surrealism and the song “Learn to love to wait”… And of course I am also influenced by all the wonderful people and wild life I met in Catalonia, where I come back to every month, now to the small town of Osor, also in La Selva.

 

Your favorite movie?

Hard question, I would say “Le fantôme de la liberté” by Luis Buñuel.

 

Favorite series?

Series are not my thing, I work around the clock on my own art, I have no time left for other stuff, no matter how interesting… I got rid of my tv decades ago, I have no  Netflix and such… I watch some things on the Internet, I go to movie theaters and film festivals once in a while, that is all I can do, life is too short…

 

Do you see yourself making movies in 5 years? Where do you see yourself?

With the exception of “The 8th Bullet Samba” that was a follow up to “The 8th Bullet” short, and we can consider them as a two part short film, films happen to me. I never planed to make a film, every film I make is like the first and the last… So to be honest I would love to, but I can not tell for sure…

 

Do you have any other project in mind?

I dream about making an animated feature film one day...

 

What do you ask for the future? (cinematographically speaking)

Maybe try to make a film with a budget and a script for a change, who knows?

 

Your best experience in a movie theater?

So far is the screening of “Learn to love to wait” at Portobello Film Festival in London UK. People laughed and cried, I was following their eyes as they watched and all this hard work made sense for me and for them all of a sudden. They came talk to me after the screening, thanking for expressing subtly what they felt during the lock down. And how people are acting now like nothing has happened. But it is impossible: everything changed forever and it can not be hidden under the carpet. Specially after watching my short film. That is why I make music and films… I made videos of the people reaction at the screenings and posted them on social media...