Upon reading the description to Los Lobos in this year’s Berlinale program, I instantly knew that I wanted to interview the director Samuel Kishi Leopo. The day after its international premiere I get lucky and have 15 minutes in the Berlinale Palace with both Samuel and his actress Martha Reyes Arias.
Free Generation Reporters: This was a very personal movie for you. How did you find the right actors and team to work with?
Samuel Kishi Leopo: That’s actually ironic – I found my producer via facebook. A while ago, when I was filming Somos Mari Pepa, my current producer talked to my producer for Somos Mari Pepa. She asked about me and ended up contacting me via facebook, saying ”Samuel, I have a script and I would like for you to direct it, if you’re interested.” I read her script, but didn’t think I was the right guy for the job. So I told her: ”Inna (Payán), I’m not the right director for this movie, maybe I could recommend someone else to you. But I have an idea for another movie. It’s autobiographical, about my mother, my brother and myself – we go to Santana, California to seek a better life.
Inna told me to go ahead and make her a pitch, so I took a cheap flight, went to her office and told her my story. By the end of it, she said ”I’m in. You direct, I produce. Make some money and we can start.”
The second task was to find the cast. We looked at around 900 kids and out of these we selected six. With the six of them we did an acting workshop and later chose the two brothers. We had an acting coach, Fatima Tolero, who had already worked with big Latin American movies like City of God and Golden Cage. So we worked for about four weeks with Martha and the two kids.
When I selected Martha – I know her from Guadalajara and I know her work – I thought she was too young. But I wanted her to help me with the workshop. I casted another actress as the mother, but when I observed Martha’s relationship with the kids, I told her we could try it. I asked her to get scouting, to pay it herself and also pay the test footage. So she paid it all with her savings.
The best thing was: even as a director I was invisible at the set. It was Martha’s job to work with and stimulate the kids in the scene. I told her whenever I need more or less of any emotion and she would make it happen.
We had three kind of takes for each scene. The first take is the base for the scene. We go through the whole thing along the script. Second take: I do some adjustments with the rhythm, corrections with the dialogue etc. The third take is improvisation. They know the dramatic points they have to pass in the scene, but can improvise around it. In the editing I can mix the three of them together and produce something fresh.
FGR: You chose a very specific time to show this movie, when it is very difficult for immigrants in the US – we all know about the situation in the detention camps. Why did you choose to make such a hopeful film instead of showing the harsh realities many families are facing now?
Samuel: I wanted to tell a hopeful story, a tender one. I don’t want to deny the hard times these families are going through. We need honest filmmaking and characters to have a connection with, not ”easy tears”-filming. You say it’s an important time to talk about immigration – every time is important for immigration everywhere.
Martha: As storytellers we have the responsibility to change things through our movie. The situation in Mexico is very hard. We have the chance to change things.
Samuel: I didn’t want a cliché movie with one dimensional characters, I wanted something more complex. The mother, for example, isn’t the cliché of a perfect mom.
Martha: ”Ooh, I have so much love to give.” No, I’m tired, I work a lot, it’s not always perfect.
FGR: You were there and heard the reception of the kids. I think they all connected a lot with the two brothers and empathised a lot. I love that you told it from the perspective of kids and showed the best parts in a bad situation, so thank you for that.
Samuel: The kids in the audience also asked good and tough questions. Like ”why did you have to leave your home?” – wow. It IS such a big questions. They don’t care about which camera or setting we used, they ask the important questions.
FGR: Was it your plan all along, then, to make it a movie for kids, or is it rather accidental that it works so well for a young audience?
Samuel: I wanted to talk to everyone. I want to talk about universal problems with as many people as possible. But it’s important to start with the really young ones. That’s why the first screening was really powerful to me because we’re talking about immigration problems with little children. Maybe they go home and ask their parents: What is immigration? Why are people leaving their home? Why was the mother so tired? That gives me a lot of hope.
Martha: Maybe in Mexico this movie isn’t considered to be for kids. So the reaction of the kids was really surprising – that they understand all of this. We underestimated the kids. The Generation section is so powerful. They give the kids the opportunity to experience real cinema.
FGR: Will the movie be shown in the US and Mexico?
Samuel: I hope so. Right?
They turn to the sales agent that is kindly enough sitting by in case the two need help with their English.
Sales Agent: We got a lot of people contacting us from everywhere and are quite happy about it. For now it’s all around Europe and we haven’t settled anything in the US.
FGR: What do you think and hope the reception will be like? Many people support immigrants in the US – others not so much, supporting Trump instead.
Samuel: I think it’s going to be a good reception. It’s not only a propaganda movie, we’re not just talking about immigration. It’s about a family trying to keep its pieces together, it’s a coming-of-age story about a young boy who knows the reasons of his mother and knows what kind of problems his father has. There are many facets to the movie. You can concentrate on the story of Max, on the commentary on the immigration problem. You can have fun, you can cry, there are documentary parts, but also animation.
I certainly loved the movie and thank both of them for their time and answering the same questions they have probably been answering all day.
The next interviewer is already waiting, so I completely forget to ask for a picture, but I certainly won’t forget about this lovely interview for a while.
28.02.2020, Johanna Gosten
Bildquelle: Berlinale Filmdetails
