San Sebastian /
A month ago, Daniel Giménez Cacho could not go to the Venice Film Festival at the presentation of his latest film as an actor, The jockeyfor one important reason: he was three days away from finishing the filming of his first feature film directorship: Joan.
With filming now complete, and having seen a “promising” first cut of the raw material, Giménez Cacho traveled to San Sebastián for the presentation of the Argentine film, with Mexican co-production by Piano, which competes in the section Latin horizons of the Basque-Spanish port festival.
Giménez Cacho has a small but important role in the filmunconventional, extravagant and humorous, which can be seen in Mexico at the upcoming Morelia Festival.
“It is a film with philosophical, metaphysical readings. The transmutation of the spirit, reincarnation, death”, The actor explained that he said “I don’t believe in death but I do believe in reincarnation,” in an interview with MILENIO in the luxurious and historic Hotel María Cristina in San Sebastián.
The acclaimed actor accepted the project of the young Argentine director Luis Ortega (The Angel) in which He plays a character from the “underworld”, carrying a baby in her arms, with a profile “affected by today’s social changes, of sex, of gender” according to Giménez Cacho“The underworld is also moving,” said the actor.
“I’m open to everything, to experimenting, to trying things. I’m very interested in doing things that I haven’t done before, that are different. I find it important because it is good to remember that there are different ways of narrating, and diversity is very important. We must work and fight to prevent this production system from becoming too homogeneous and tending towards that.” said the 63-year-old actor, who has made about 60 films, according to his calculations.
“I tried to get away from it a bit with the one I directed, but I’m not sure I succeeded and I haven’t finished it yet.” Cacho added about Joan, his first feature film as a director, which should be ready by March next year; he will seek to be selected at international festivals.
The protagonist of Bardwho had previously directed some episodes of series, acknowledged that He shot his first feature film with “insecurity”, almost self-conscious about not mastering the film language, and taking into account the opinions of the team members, as “captain of the ship”but attentive to the suggestions of his team and listening to opinions, including that of Alejandro González Iñárritu.
“Iñárritu read the script and gave me his opinions. I was very insecure, I am inexperienced, I had my ideas and I didn’t know if it would work, especially about language and camera movements, because I had already made 15 films. I had a lot of doubts about that,” Giménez Cacho confessed.
Internal process
The script for the film came from a work by a Spanish writer who lives in Mexico. and tells, from an internal perspective, the story of a journalist who is investigating a case of sexual abuse by a politician.
According to its director, It does not seek to narrate their situation, but rather to investigate the reasons that lead journalists to risk their lives for their work.
“The film is about an internal process. “It is not about telling the dramatic story that journalists suffer, but about their inner process, because things get mixed up between the professional and the personal,” explained Daniel Giménez Cacho.
“I was interested in understanding why a journalist sacrifices his or her life despite threats, despite everything; They put themselves at risk and do their job. It is this question of what personal, deep-seated motivations there are to do that,” he added, recalling that Mexico is the country where the most journalists are killed without being at war.
“This record is very sad. And I think it is a personal issue, I am also a victim of this.”“I relate it to the patriarchy, to the patriarchal, authoritarian system, of which I have also been a victim,” she said.
“In essence, I made the film – yes, because of the theme of injustice – because I have found many things from the past, from my childhood, which are expressed through this character, which the actress plays in a supernatural way. That makes it very personal for me; the film is not about describing that context, we know that, it is there, but about what this woman does to get ahead. She takes on the role of victim or transforms it and tries to stop being a victim. All of those things are delicate enough for one to give prescriptions to journalists” explained Giménez Cacho.
“I am doing this for myself, because I have been doing this for years. It is my own process that goes beyond whether there will be justice or whether it will serve any purpose. I have spoken with many journalists and they wonder if what they do is of any use, if by giving their lives they are going to change anything. Their teachers tell them yes to memory, to record, to denounce, to collective consciousness,” he added.
Towards the future
The now director is not sure about his future as an actor. Whether he will lean towards acting behind or in front of the camera.
“Shoemaker, stick to your last. As an actor you are the puppet in the shop window, you arrive, you get your act together and you leave. And as a director you are pulling the cart, with a politician’s face, saying everything is fine.” Giménez Cacho described that he decided to enter the direction seeking their creative development.
“I don’t know (whether to act or direct); we’ll see. I’m not ready for the next one now. The next story will find me.” pointed out Giménez Cacho, who in San Sebastian He met again after a long time with the great director Alfonso Cuarón, with whom he worked in Only with your partner.
Cacho admitted that he enjoys acting. “I played a small role in this film because we couldn’t find an actor and I realized that I really enjoy it,” he said.
Regarding the challenges that remain for him as a comedian in his already long and prolific career, he said that he would like to film in several languages.
“As an actor, the challenge I would face would be to film in Italian, French and German. “I would love for that to happen to me before I die,” said the now director.
AJR
