“One always writes from what one knows, but this plot is 100% fictional,” says the actor, singer, playwright and director Dennis Smith, who releases his first film tomorrow, “Pink Virgin”, with performances by Juana Viale, Agustín Sullivan and Carolina Kopelioff.
The story revolves around three brothers who wander for hours in an abandoned factory devoured by nature. They try to get to Luján to ask the Virgin for the health of their sick father. Wrapped in imaginary landscapes, the years of distance become present and the brothers struggle with memory. His attempts to unite the family seem like an impossible chimera: the past emerges, again and again, like an embedded stinger.
The film was made with the support of INCAA, Ministry of Culture of Buenos Aires through the Buenos Aires Film Commission, Cultural Patronage, Itaú Foundation and Proyecto Tsunami. We talk with Smith.
Journalist: Does the film have anything self-referential?
Dennis Smith: Although I usually work on stories based on my own story or stories that others share with me about their lives such as “Eye and I”, “Christian e”, “The Last Bonaparte”, in this case everything is a mix of imagination and materials that I admire. and I know. One always writes from what one knows, and although I put many questions about people and connections that I have observed to the characters, the plot is 100% fictional. It’s quite an exercise, giving truth to those characters.
P.: You take the anarchic nature of memories, the interstices of memory, how some memories emerge and others are suppressed. What do you say about it?
DS: I believe we are a product of our own story. If that story is conscious, then we are more owners of what we do. However, if we do not want to face our past, we are victims of it, indefinitely.
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Q.: You managed to release a film with a lot of financial support from different areas in this difficult context for cinema and culture.
DS: The film was completed a year and a half ago and the premiere was all due to the efforts of the producers, without support from INCAA in this final stage. I find everything very difficult and I believe that the youngest people are going to shake us up soon by creating cinema as they can, which will surely silence the mouths of people who, from a place of temporary power, blatantly lie about culture.
Q: Anecdotes and setbacks during filming?
DS: It was a hyper express shoot. Exhausting. It was summer but inside the factory it was winter, sometimes autumn and very rarely, spring. It was a transformative experience for all of us who participated.
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Q.: It premieres in 8 theaters, many of which are INCAA spaces in the country. What is the route like?
DS: We want to be like a traveling circus, bringing the film to all the places that want to receive us, even if the money comes out of our pockets.
Q: What’s next?
DS: Now finish “James Brown used rollers” by Alfredo Arias at the San Martín, which I have fallen in love with, and finish “My previous life” at the Cultural San Martín, which already has all its 2024 performances sold out. Rest and then see.
Source: Ambito
