“Los personajes en Ariel son seres atrapados en un espacio intermedio donde el tiempo no avanza de manera lineal, un limbo entre la vigilia y el sueño, entre lo vivo y lo muerto, que me permitió pensar en la libertad, el libre albedrío y en cómo convivimos con la conciencia de estar actuando un destino que quizás no elegimos.”
What personal or professional experiences did you have in other residencies or creative spaces that inspired you to create Cina Cina?
In my case, there were several, especially related to my debut feature film. One grabs whatever is at hand to forge a path, and the film, due to specific circumstances, ended up going through the pipeline of labs, workshops, and markets. At the time, I felt it was a way to legitimize and make visible my first project, but it was also a way to cope with the uncertainty of not knowing how to finance—or how to make—a film. I learned many things from that experience; for example, that you often end up working to apply to programs, and that sometimes it’s easier—and cheaper—to invent a workshop space with friends. Beyond that, you learn and appreciate every experience, and with elements from each one I gradually built a patient and secret dream residency. However, there was one space that marked me particularly: the old Taller Colón of the TyPA Foundation. Under the curious name “Theory and Practice of the Arts” hid the typa that Américo had in the garden of his house in Colón, Entre Ríos. Part of the workshop activities took place in that garden. It’s not hard to imagine that the workshop was born from the joy Américo felt inhabiting and sharing that garden. For over ten years, together with his friend Ilse Hughan, he gathered generations of young filmmakers to experience something similar to what they had lived there. At the same time, the workshop had a very precise articulation between training stages, personal bonds, and leisure time. Américo and Ilse were present at meals as godfathers or uncles, and the young filmmakers lived alongside the tutors, developing not only their films but also a strong sense of belonging and community. Cina Cina was born with the intention of recovering that spirit.
Cina Cina emphasizes contact with nature and distancing from cities: what role do you think this environment plays in the writing and development process of a feature film?
It’s wonderful to be able to put everyday activities on hold and dedicate all your attention to the writing process. The urgent is often the enemy of the important, and entering the universe of a film demands a disposition that we often don’t have in daily life. When choosing the location, we sought not only a house that met certain conditions but also an environment where it would be possible to get lost. Ruminating and wandering are necessary actions for writing. The residency house, El Puntazo, faces both the sea and the beach, but also the forest and a cliff from which you descend to some caves. The change of context alters our relationship with the material, and getting lost and then returning home is a necessary part of the process. These are physical truths: nature predisposes us to see the world with new eyes.
How did you choose El Puntazo as the venue for the first edition, and what symbolic or practical value does this place bring to the spirit of the residency?
It took us some time to choose the location because we knew it would be the heart of the residency. At first, we thought about holding it in Virginia Scaro’s family house in Punta Ballena, where the idea for the residency was born, while we worked on our own projects. But over time, we understood that it was important to find a neutral place, so we began looking. A fundamental criterion was that the location had eight similar bedrooms, common spaces, and an environment that invited movement and getting lost. Also, we wanted those coming from afar to feel it was really worth making the journey. That’s how El Puntazo came about, after visiting dozens of places. The house met all those requirements and, furthermore, gave the residency a very strong iconicity and identity. It was a great discovery that the place was built by the artist Carlos Páez Vilaró, creator of the emblematic Casa Pueblo, with which El Puntazo shares a singular aesthetic that directly connects the residency experience with Uruguayan identity. The location is truly enchanting. In it, both The Lobster by Yorgos Lanthimos and The Shining by Kubrick resonate equally. We hope for no less unsettling results.
In such a diverse and unequal Ibero-American context, what challenges did you face to ensure equitable and accessible participation of filmmakers from different countries?
Securing the support of IBERMEDIA and ACAU from Uruguay was fundamental to making the project happen. Thanks to their grants, the residency has no cost for the participants, as they cover accommodation, meals, local transportation, and training activities. Airfare and other expenses are the responsibility of each participant, except in special cases such as the project awarded at BAM and the Brazilian project, which has the support of Projeto Paradiso. Additionally, we held meetings with several Latin American institutes to present the residency and facilitate its inclusion in funding lines that cover travel expenses. Therefore, it is very likely that the costs each project must bear will be minimal or even zero.
An aspect we cared a lot about was that registration be free. Although that money would be helpful—because despite institutional support, the budget is always tight and ends up affecting our salaries—as a filmmaker I get frustrated when festivals or industry spaces charge for registration. I feel that we are the clients, and for me it is a rule not to register for any space that charges a fee unless we are granted a waiver. Now, being on the other side of the counter, it seems essential to me to guarantee that free access.
Cina Cina defines itself as part of a network of regional initiatives: what kind of alliances or connections are you interested in strengthening to expand the residency’s reach?
The political and economic vulnerability of our region, added to the frequent dependence on European spaces for training, funding, and exhibition, drives the need to create new local spaces for cinematic creation and reflection that strengthen the production of representations unique to Latin America. In this sense, we have found fraternal ties with other regional training spaces such as ALGA, BR Lab, Tres Puertos, among others, born from enthusiasm and the vocation to create support and strengthening networks for our films.
For this first edition, we established strategic alliances with BAM (Colombia) and SANFIC (Chile), and we count on the support of platforms such as LatAm Cinema, Caligari, and Estado de Vigilia. These collaborations not only strengthen the promotion of the call for applications but also ensure that projects developed at the residency can continue their journey in recognized industry spaces, expanding their opportunities for development and financing.
Cina Cina is not a production space, but a place for experimentation and testing, without the pressures of the industry. However, we are interested in boosting the visibility of the projects once the residency has finished. With the precedent of the first edition and confirmation of the second, we will seek to continue enhancing the visibility of participating projects and establishing new collaborations, including top-tier European festivals and other key international spaces.
At a local level, we plan to coordinate with regional actors such as the Maldonado community and the School of Fine Arts, through screenings of participants’ and tutors’ films, and exchange events with students, integrating activities open to the community. We are also in dialogue with other national industry references such as ESTE Audiovisual and DGU (Directors, Screenwriters, and Filmmakers of Uruguay), because we want the residency to be an active part of the Uruguayan film community.
What criteria do you prioritize when selecting projects and participants? What do you look for in the filmmakers who apply?
The writing residency is open to filmmakers from all over Ibero-America. There are no restrictions regarding subject matter or genre. We especially value artistic quality, gender equity, and geographic diversity within the region. But above all, we look for projects that surprise and excite us. We know the selection process is very competitive and that not being selected is not related to the quality of the projects. For this reason, we encourage reapplying in future editions. Additionally, we are developing Comunidad Cina Cina, an online space that goes beyond the in-person residency and will also include those who were not selected. Through this community, we will share audiovisual content, such as some of the masterclasses held during the residency.
How do you envision Cina Cina evolving over the next few years? What impact do you hope it will have on the region’s cinemas?
Cina Cina seeks to promote the creation of works that enrich the artistic landscape of our region. Given that Argentina, historically a reference in this field, is going through a critical situation, we believe Uruguay has the opportunity to take on that role and establish itself as a new point of reference. In a context where the standardization of discourses and production models increasingly precarizes the scene for cinema that seeks to build its own logics of meaning, it is essential to consolidate spaces that value formal research, narrative risk, and singular creative processes. We trust that the successful development of this first edition will allow us to connect with new allies, access greater funding, and open the possibility of expanding the residency in future editions. Additionally, we plan in the short term a second residency dedicated to editing, and in the medium term, a third focused on distribution.
