A CAMERA IN HAND AND AN IDEA IN YOUR HEAD

When the cinema emerged at the turn of the XIX to the XX century, it was enough a crank camera in the hand and an idea in the head to make cinema. Unfortunately moving images were very new and the Lumière brothers ' cameramen only recorded trivial images from different places in the world. At the time it was a revolution, because people in Europe began to see how China, Japan and other distant lands really looked like. Thomas Edson's team basically filmed visual anecdotes with members of his staff, and he made a fortune with his Nickelodeon machines. It took a French genius named George Méliès to come by and show what cinema could really be. That’s when moving images gain an overwhelming artistic content for the first time.

The years passed, the cinema became a studios business, very expensive and inaccessible to us mere mortals. Until the digital era arrived, and the game turned around.

Today the Hollywood style of film production is threatened by Internet, mobile phones, streaming channels, etc. Directors and producers like Tarantino protest saying – it’s the end of an era. The big Hollywood studios are cornered, concentrating on the production of very expensive films and limiting the production of any other projects per year.

But, as in nature, in the audiovisual world nothing is created, nothing is lost, everything is transformed. Darwin said that to survive, we have to adapt. And the class that produces audiovisual content has no way of acting differently.

Today, more than ever what counts is a good, well-scripted ideas. The means to produce are more accessible and, even without remuneration, the channels for distribution as well.

In this midst I observe here from my Hollywood tower the movement of creative and productive waters and always see and enjoy what is worth watching.


A few weeks ago, I saw a modest budget film with a bold proposal – to shoot with a cast of children  In the cast, good actors without major stars – Jenna Ortega, Martin Martinez, David Arquette, Leonor Varela, Tom Arnold and Rhea Perlman. The result is quality entertainment for the whole family.
and animals... W.C. Fields recommended not to face such a challenge without too much fear. But director/screenwriter Mark Drury Taylor and screenwriter David Moss faced it with gallantry and the result is surprising. SAVING FLORA is a today’s kind of movie with a taste of old Hollywood. Current because the film’s heroin is female and underage; and the film it's ecological. It also as a “old times” taste because it’s a feel-good movie, accomplished with quality and technique.

I don't know where and how SAVING FLORA will be distributed internationally (or domestically), but whether in a movie theater, on cable TV, or on one of the streaming channels, don't miss the adventures of this circus girl and her saga to save an elephant at the end of its career.

Curiosity: among the film’s producers a Brazilian, Fabio Golombek.

Another interesting film that totally escapes the market, is the new Jim Jarmush’s THE DEAD DON'T DIE, a macabre comedy making fun of zombies’ movies and TV series that today plague the screens.

Since 2016 director Jim Jarmush wasn’t releasing a film, back then he launched the documentary GIMME DANGER. THE DEAD DON'T DIE has a cast of stars – Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tom Waits, Chole Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover, Tilda Swinton, Iggy Pop, Selena Gomez, Carol Kane, Rosie Perez.

The film may not be pleasing to certain people of a more classic cinematic taste, or to teenage kids who enjoy zombie movies, and take them as seriously business. THE DEAD DON'T DIE is for people with a sick sense of humor like mine and who enjoys an anarchic criticism of customs.

And closing the current trilogy, I'm talking about YESTERDAY that I saw at the WGA Theater last week. It’s a new Danny Boyle movie (same director who gave us SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE). The movie revolves around my favorite rock band, the Beatles. It tells of this young unsuccessful musician that after a bizarre traffic accident, when the whole world suffers a blackout, wakes up being the only person on earth to remember who the Beatles were and the songs they created. He begins to relaunch all the Beatles successes and becomes a superstar overnight. The film and its script are exquisite. Danny is a genius and to watch the film is a must.

Having said all that, I recommend to friends who have a camera at hand, to start thinking about good ideas (and put them on paper, because movies without script are shit). And go after your cinematic dreams: the sky, or the Internet is the limit.