May 20, 2022
The creatures that melt under the sun, short film directed by Diego Cespedes (The summer of the electric lion, Cinefondation Award, Cannes Film Festival, 2018) and starring Paula Dinamarca was selected in the Critics’ Week along with nine other first and second films from around the world, as we announced earlier.
The science fiction/LGTBQl+ short is a co-production between Chile (Giancarlo Nasi & Rodrigo Díaz) and France (Damien Megherbi & Justin Pechberty), which tells the story of Nataly, a trans woman who visits a mysterious community that melts under the sun. On this journey, she will be reunited with her lover and little daughter.
Its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival is approaching and in our In Conversation With section we wanted to listen to our top talents. Here, the exclusive interview!
When Diego gave me the role I met Nataly from real life, meaning I am the mother of an 18-year-old boy who I carried in my arms when he was 17 days old, and because of the prejudice and ruses of many people he was separated from me at 7 years old. Nataly’s character flowed into me as it was the moment I carried my son in my arms, while I was healing from my mother’s post death.
I experienced my transitioning at a time when there were much more prejudices and stereotypes than now. I walked like a warrior, I stood up to my mother, my family and especially the system. I was excluded, beaten, held captive and starved. People believed all of that hurt me and yet it only made me more humanized.
In Chile and in the world, this work shows that motherhood is not only a biological monopoly of cisgender women; it is actually an option. There are cisgender women who are mothers and do very badly or very well according to the stereotypes of motherhood imposed by the system. Others choose to adopt and there are others that govern their bodies as a terrain of pleasure and resistance (this is my corporality, a domain of pleasure and resistance).
Personally I don’t believe in the so-called “Maternal Instinct” because it’s a construction made by patriarchy. It installs in society a demonized or uncommon reality.
I feel that it will provoke emotion, joy, tenderness, peace, openness of consciousness as well as a metamorphosis of thinking.
We met through Selva (Chilean producer), who read the script and thought she would be the perfect protagonist. And they were right. We met one day and it was an immediate crush. We share deep ideals because our families come from similar places and we were laughing all the time. One day the taxi driver asked her if I was her son, she said yes and followed the lie throughout the journey. But beyond our friendly connection, the script work was completely professional and satisfying. Paula takes her roles very seriously and is willing to learn everything necessary to get the best possible performance. I think she has a talent that overflows any space.
I would love (and it is very possible) for us to continue working together on my next project, my feature film. But we would have to review the characters and what role fits her best.
Filmmaking turned into a completely different experience. I worked with an amazing crew and gained a lot of experience on set, and they were all very generous and allowed me to learn tremendously. Artistically I think that this time it is much freer in its format and topic, more poetry is allowed and it moves away a little from the direct references that I had for my previous short film. I feel more honest with myself.
As for Cannes, I am very grateful to be able to have this platform again and to share it with Paula and Rafaella, mother and daughter in fiction. They’re both going with me to present the short film and that’s what makes me the happiest.
The feature already has an almost definitive script and is well on the way to production. The latest good news is that it will be co-produced by the TV channel ARTE France. We hope to shoot in the first months of next year, but, as we all know, making a feature film is always a dizzying road.