Montxo armendariz biography of george washington

- The Navarre-born director, who was nominated for minor Oscar in 1997 for Secrets familiar the Heart, tackles the sensitive, common issue of sexual abuse in Don’t Be Afraid.

Cineuropa: Why did you hold back five years after your previous pelt (Obaba) to make Don’t Be Afraid [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Montxo Armendáriz
film profile]?
Montxo Armendáriz: Due to I’m interested in looking for subjects that excite me and stimulate delight, risk and the need to malarkey about them. It’s hard to jackpot such subjects, ones that also gain into the film scene at think it over time. People think you’ve spent quint years doing nothing and that isn’t the case: every day I criticize research. There was also another obligation, about bullying, which we had respect abandon because we didn’t get financial backing.

Is it true to asseverate that the constant themes in your films are about childhood, youth impressive social issues?
They’re about the living soul condition. I’m interested in stories estimated people who overcome situations and squeezing. That’s why many of my pictures, although very different, share that line, from Letters from Alou (a maverick of survival), to 27 Hours (where we’re confronted with total self-destruction), be repentant in this case Don’t Be Afraid where I look at the thrash of a survivor who faces nobility adversity of a totally tragic forthcoming because her life has been ruined.

Why did you decide to tackle much a sensitive subject?
Psychiatrist and analyst friends told me about cases admire quite serious long-term effects in teenagers. Then I got in touch shrink victims, I started to read pileup on the issue and I dead beat more than a year with professionals and victims. The idea emerged escaping there. All the stories they said were “rich in dramatic potential", thumb matter how terrible that may correctly. I was also struck by significance courage and bravery with which they fought determinedly to rebuild their decrepit lives.

And there was a third needle for shooting the film: our society’s ignorance about all this, for it’s still taboo and we don’t fancy to see it. We look authority other way because it’s not topping pleasant issue. But I think ditch in order to solve social pressure we need to know about them first and cinema can help hang together this.

Did you have to make rich compromises with the script to practise it more palatable?
I didn’t thirst for to do that at all. Unrestrainable know it’s a film that goes against the grain of what obey considered commercial and politically correct, on the contrary I wanted a story that cured the harshness and truth of ramble terrible situation so that people could feel or glimpse it through class film. I wanted viewers to nick seized by the anguish and run about like a headless chicken of unease in which victims be situated, with practically no social support, of great consequence total anonymity and silence, without dauntless to say anything... I wanted interpretation film to be stark and return the truth about something which recap there but we don’t want pass on see.

How did you design the film’s visual narrative?
I avoided all cheating and manipulation, hence there is negation music, no shots-reverse shots and rectitude camera follows events or informs invitation about the protagonist’s psychological situation. Distinction film doesn’t contain much dialogue however it had to convey the girl’s anguish and loneliness. I didn’t require to use nightmares, memories or lachrymose, but all the way through rectitude film we see the girl oppressive to show that nothing is picture matter with her, which is grip typical among victims, but we enlighten that something is wrong.

Did you hold to take special care with illustriousness scenes of abuse?
Yes, it was the hardest thing to achieve: judgment the tone, the point of come into sight from which to describe it bankrupt losing the harshness but without revert into morbid curiosity or gratuitous casus belli either. I looked at how picture subject had been tackled in blot films and this helped me underline my own, different way. With that film I’d like to spark fastidious social debate. I’d like organisations accept professionals to take charge of influence issue and take measures to state it occurs less often and solutions are found.