'Juventud' Filmmaker Visits Austin Via Skype

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By Gabriela A. Treviño

As an intern, I would not say that I am a jetsetter just yet. Instead of catching planes at Austin Bergstrom this summer, as one may have dreamed, I settled for catching movies at the Alamo Drafthouse. Not too shabby, I'd say, since I was able to visit Gotham City in The Dark Knight Rises, root for love at Camp Ivanhoe in Moonrise Kingdom and sit amidst a south Louisiana storm with Hushpuppy in Beasts of the Southern Wild. It was, indeed, a wonderful summer for film.

In addition to screening great movies like the aforementioned titles this summer, the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar hosted the Austin Film Society's Essential Cinema programming on Tuesday nights. "CineSur: Films of Latin America" was the theme for June and July; the lineup included films from México, Peru, Cuba and Argentina. (Read Essential Cinema programmer Chale Nafus' thoughts on Latin-American cinema here.)

On Tuesday, July 31, the film series concluded with a beautiful film called Juventud (Youth), a Mexican film directed by Jaime Humberto Hermosillo, who joined the audience from his home in Guadalajara via Skype for a Q&A session after the screening. Having directed well over 30 films, Hermosillo is one of México's most prolific filmmakers.

Despite having many years of experience and contacts within the industry, for Juventud Hermosillo worked with non-actors, inexperienced crews and students in his hometown of Aguascalientes, in central México. The reason the film was made this way was Hermosillo's intention. As a homage to his hometown, Hermosillo set up a month-long workshop in the city with the mindset of, "Let's teach young people in Aguascalientes how to use digital technology," he said during the Q&A. After the workshop, he shot the film in three weeks with his newly recruited crew.

During the Q&A, Hermosillo displayed his eye for mise-en-scène as he positioned himself off to the side, while his colleague and cinematographer, Jorge Lopez, sat further in the background, adding depth. Who knew a Skype session could be so artsy? Hermosillo explained that the challenge of working with inexperienced actors and crew made the final product more rewarding.

"My favorite film is Youth," he said.

And he wasn't only referring to the film itself. Semi-autobiographical, and set in 1950s México, the story follows a young man who escapes the mediocrity of his current living situation by going out to watch Hollywood movies. This outlet inspired him to become a playwright and make a pilgrimage to México City to fulfill his dreams.

Hermosillo even cast himself as the ticket taker at the theater frequented by the protagonist, who is loosely based on Hermosillo himself. This encounter between Hermosillo’s younger self and his older self is beautiful to think about in retrospect. The filmmaker attributed his role as ticket taker to nothing more than "mischief" on his account.

He shared that when shooting a scene at a train station, the sound of an actual train was recorded on set by accident.

"That was really magical. That train passed exactly as we shot [the scene]," he said, leaving the audience with an impression of just how special the film is.

Gabriela A. Treviño is an intern at the Austin Film Society.