Alonso Ruizpalacios defends cinema as a “very important tool of social reflection”

VALÈNCIA (EUROPA PRESS).- The Mexican director and screenwriter Alonso Ruizpalacios, Luna de València winner of the 39th edition of Cinema Jove, claimed cinema as a “very important tool of social reflection” and assured that it is “very necessary.”

This was stated on Friday in a meeting with the public, held in Room 7 of the Rialto de València, where he also defended culture as a “fundamental instrument of identity” for people and highlighted that cultural policies are “a necessity.” , not a luxury.”

The creator of the feature films ‘Güeros’, ‘Museo’ and ‘A Police Movie’ named the novelist Roald Dahl as one of his “first loves” for his “waste of imagination”, a characteristic that has “marked and fascinated” the Mexican director.

Along these lines, he valued the figure of the Chilean writer and poet Roberto Bolaño for his ability to “capture bibliophilia” in a “state of youth restless about the discovery of the city, the geographical restlessness of traveling.”

“They are bibliophiles who also write, they are not ‘neither,'” he added.

Asked about his experience in the Community, where he shot part of the second season of ‘Andor’ in the City of Arts and Sciences and the castle of Xàtiva (Valencia), he pointed out that it was “a past”.

“Filming in València was a ray of sunshine, we enjoyed it very much,” he said, at the same time that he stressed that filming in Xàtiva was “beautiful” as it was able to have scenes that reconstructed an “intergalactic market” with Valencian extras.

“FILMING GYM”

From his experience directing films and series, Ruizpalacios focused on the modes of creation and execution: “Series are like a filming gym. You acquire many hours of flight, although not always the type of flight you want.”

“The series are industrial and less personal, while the films are a more intimate and freer personal journey with friends. The films offer a space of absolute freedom and creativity, but the series have other, more commercial interests,” he explained.

Regarding his work, the Mexican director stated that in ‘A Police Movie’ he followed a “very free” process of investigation that reached a conclusion “very different from how it began”: “It arose from the impulse to do something that would contribute to society and that it was not escapist”.

In this sense, he specified that the feature film seeks to have a “dialogue with the present” and a “link with reality” to try to “break down prejudices, go to the other side and see what lies beyond. We interviewed many police officers until we arrive at the creation of the two protagonists”.

When questioned about the criticism of his work, he claimed his interest in characters who “are not polarized, who have a hard time choosing one position or another.” However, he clarified that the protagonists of ‘Güeros’ (2014) are a “reflection” of what the director was at that time.

“A STRAIGHT JACKET”

In the case of ‘Museos’ (2018), Ruizpalacios pointed out that the film is based on a “rocambolesque” true story that occurred in 1985 with the theft of 150 pieces of pre-Hispanic art, one of the “great treasures of the moment”, in the National Museum of Anthropology of Mexico.

“It’s a film about failures. When we adapted it, we started by sticking much more to the facts, but this ended up becoming a straitjacket. We ended up changing things, because we didn’t want to make a documentary, but rather a fiction. When we freed ourselves, the project began to function as a film,” he said.

As for ‘The Kitchen’, the Mexican director’s latest work based on the play of the same name by Arnold Wesker, he assured that it has been his “most difficult film”, even though it was “originally” going to be his first feature film.

“It was difficult to convince the producers to finance it, as well as the casting and distribution. That makes me love the film more, it is my daily struggle and in Berlin it has been very well received,” Ruizpalacios highlighted regarding the premiere at the 2024 Berlinale.

“IMPULSE TO CINEMATOGRAPHY”

In response to questions from the audience, the director said that he thinks it is “fantastic” that his country has a female president: “It’s about time. It’s something we wanted and that Mexico needed.” Despite this, he pointed out that he has “mixed emotions” because of the “complicated moment” and because of Claudia Sheinbaum’s “close connection” with López Obrador.

Similarly, Ruizpalacios claimed the Mexican Institute of Cinematography (IMCINE) as one of the “small triumphs in Mexican politics” for its “promotion of cinematography” and stated that, without this institution, “many directors” of his generation “would not exist.”

Along these lines, he criticized that López Obrador’s government “has turned its back on culture.” For this reason, he has urged not to see culture as a “luxury”, but rather a “necessity” and a “fundamental instrument of people’s identity.”

Likewise, he predicted a “hopeful” future for cinema in Mexico and noted that the “arrival of cinema on digital platforms has helped a lot to democratize cinematography”: “There are very interesting projects in Latin America.”