Movies: Ludwika Paleta experiences turbulence full of sadness

The second feature film by the Mexican director Sofia Gomez Cordova“After”, prepares its arrival at the International Film Festival in Guadalajara (FICG). The production stars Ludwika Paleta and Nicolás Hazawho offer an emotional interpretation by bringing their mother-son relationship to fiction in a plot that experiences loss and the chiaroscuros of motherhood.

THE REPORTER spoke with the director about this project in which Actors Luis Velázquez, Darío Rocas, Adriana Palafox and Alan Oliva also participate.whose production was carried out by Julia Cherrier, Paulina Villavicencio and Sofía herself, who remembers that the starting point for developing the film came from Luis Briones, the screenwriter with whom she collaborates.

“It was the concern that when a person leaves, sometimes there is a contradictory portrait that the closest people can draw, plus the impossibility of wanting to know more. And after that we became more interested in the character of the mother, where we focused more on her and from that perspective other themes related to motherhood unfolded, the particular grief from the point of view of this mother and also of the identityplus all the decisions that motherhood involves and that suddenly for many women means giving up many things in their lives that are important.”

in the plot Ludwika plays “Carmen”, a woman dedicated to music who after becoming a mother has to take care of her sonbecause for her partner he does not seem to have the same meaning of responsibility as she does even though they live together. When their son grows up, they both decide to change their lives, but in the inter He dies and then the reality of “Carmen” breaks down, going through grief and longing to know more about her son through the people he lived with.

“Here, in addition, we were very interested in contrasting the emotions that could arise about the discoveries made by the mother of her son, having had a relationship that, from many perspectives, could be considered very good, very trusting, but she anyway finds a person who does not know and who implies knowing things that he confided to other people. In the duel, a maelstrom of sadness comes together, but also of anger and a feeling of betrayal, and that skein develops until it explodes, especially in a character who does not tend to express her emotions as openly as ‘Carmen’ is. .

“After” will have its premiere tomorrow, June 10, as part of the FICG Benefit Galas program; In addition, it competes in the categories of the Mezcal Prize, the Maguey Prize and Hecho en Jalisco.

Regarding when Ludwika joins the film, Sofía responds: “She was there practically from the beginning. We had barely started writing when she was already on board. I met her at a Bergman Chair workshop we attended together, we did an exercise together and there was good chemistry. Since then we started talking, this was in 2018, before filming and years later the idea arose that Nico could be ‘Jorge’, of course there were things that make you doubt, but the truth is that when I met him, I thought he was a really cute guy, he gave me a lot of confidence and it was my instinct to think it could work.”

Already on set, he acknowledges that working with mother and son “was very nice”: “Not only because of her experience and him because of his natural talent, but because there was a lot of professionalism and everything that their relationship implied, they used it and channeled it well.. In addition, there was also a lot of respect, because although that line between fiction and reality was used to develop scenes and improvisations that were not really written, there was never a moment where that generated something bad, the two people working together worked very well. And I found it very nice that Ludwika gave him a lot of respect as a professional and colleague. They made my job a lot easier, which in large part was letting them be.” This film marked Nicolás’ film debut. The director finally highlights that the film was developed for five weeks and that right now they are working on the circuit that she will continue to travel, the intention is for the film to reach movie theaters.

Schedule it

Features

• FICG Cinematheque: Tomorrow, June 10, at 9:00 p.m. (Benefit Gala).
• FICG Cinematheque: Friday, June 14, at 6:20 p.m.
• Cinema Forum: Wednesday, June 12, at 3:30 p.m.

Synopsis

Secrets and mourning

Faced with the incomprehensible death of her only son “Jorge” (Nicolás Haza), “Carmen” (Ludwika Paleta) discovers that the relationship of deep friendship that they had developed after abandoning their father, kept secrets. None of them answers the mystery behind her, what could have been a suicide, but they draw a contradictory portrait that forces her to face her own blurred reflection of her.

Who is Sofía Gómez Córdova?

Originally from Aguascalientes, Mexico, and graduated from the University of Guadalajara, she works as a producer, editor, screenwriter and director. She is a founding partner of the production house and post-production studio Brujazul, which she has directed since 2015, with the aim of promoting the film industry in Mexican provinces. She is co-writer of “We are Mari Pepa” and of “The Wolves”. “The Blue Years” (2017) was his debut film as director and producer. In 2022 she ventured into playwriting with the co-writing of the play “Kyra” in collaboration with Hugo Arrevillaga.

C.T.