Pedro González-Rubio has made a film about an idyllic holiday that a young boy takes with his divorced father, who lives in a sort of Bounty paradise. That sounds a bit over the top, but Alamar is nevertheless pure and without a drop of sentimentalism.
Elevator Pitch
'It's the story of a father and a son, who go on a journey to the source of the open sea in order to find their old way of life.'
Tasks
'When I met Jorge and his young son Natan, I knew immediately that I wanted to do something about the special bond between them. The story is fiction but based on reality. Every evening I gave Jorge and Natan a 'task'. For example: 'Tomorrow you're going to repair the window' or' tomorrow you're going fishing'. The 'task' was meant to get them to think how they were going to do it, and therefore that they would do it 'as themselves'.
If there was something not so good in a shot, I never stopped them to tell them we had to do a scene again. I did sometimes ask them to keep going until I had enough material that I was satisfied with. The only shots that were really difficult were the underwater shots. For these I brought in an extra cameraman. Everything else we just filmed with two of us: the sound man Manuel Carranza and myself. It's a great way to work, because you can really capture the intimacy.'
The First Time
'The making of my first film Toro Negro was totally different: this time I had the feeling I was much more in control. Also the two story lines are like yin and yang to me. Toro Negro, which means Black Bull was about anger and conflict and Alamar is about love and freedom.
Mexico
Just like in other developing countries, film making is not going well. There's simply not enough funding. The money that is there is shared between a small number of well known directors that make action movies with lots of Mexican stars. That's why I'm so impressed with what young film makers are doing; they're really trying to find their own way. Luckily new techniques are making that easier. Because of video and dvd it's become much easier to make a film. On the other hand I think you have to be careful not to see money as the most important factor. If you are a film maker you just have to make films. That's why I shot Alamar on video. Otherwise I'd still be looking for funding now.'
Bright Future
'I'm thinking hard about the next film. One thing I'm sure of: I want to work again with just a sound man. I would really like to film in India. I was in a secondary school in New Delhi for a year when my father lived there, and I also went there for every holiday. In India I discovered my passion for photography after I got a mirror reflex camera from my father.' (EJ)
Alamar (TG) - Pedro González-Rubio
Sat 6th 13.15 PA5