Cursed hobby
I was never interested in filmmaking. I find the shootings absolutely boring, and my real interest is the analysis, research and study of cinematographical phenomena.
When I was a kid, I didn’t have a VHS video player, so the only contact I had with films were the occasional times when a relative took me to the cinema. But my life got a radical twist when a friend invited me to his home to see INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM (1984). That film struck and obsessed me so much that I started learning everything I could about Steven Spielberg, and began watching all the movies produced and directed by him. Since then, my fixation with films never relented and, as a teenager, I rented and watched the entire contents of my neighborhood’s video store.
I was never interested in filmmaking. I find the shootings absolutely boring, and my real interest is the analysis, research and study of cinematographical phenomena. I guess being a critic is simply to follow my natural inclinations, to accomplish what I think I’ve been made for. I would describe my writing as a 'straight to the point' style, I don’t like unnecesary ramblings or pointless phrases. I believe this is a task to be carried out with hard work and tons of study, and each sentence has to add information, otherwise, risk an opinion. Being at the Berlinale is an opportunity to test myself under new circumstances, to write and express myself in English - I’ve always writen my articles in Spanish - to know people and to get my first contact with a festival of this size.
Criticism in Uruguay has many problems. In the first place, reviews in this country are old-fashioned. There aren’t many young critics, and the shabbiness of their work can be seen in the general lack of interest in discovering new filmographies or studying hidden trends that don’t show up easily on everyday billboards. On the other hand, it is usually a very poorly paid job, and an underpaid review becomes, ultimately, a review meager of content. Of course I don’t earn my living with film criticism, and I am forced to take it as a hobby for which I get some extra money, although my day job is intellectually less fulfilling. However, my goal is to devote myself to film criticism full-time, but that still seems far away.
Meanwhile, Uruguayan cinema is doing great, film production increased a little, and movies like 25 WATTS (2001) and WHISKY (2004) opened the reception of Uruguayan films to international festivals and encouraged young filmmakers to start shooting. And for the first time in my life, I get positively surprised with one or two national film releases every year.
301 Moved Permanently