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How familiar were you initially with the cumbia movement depicted in the film?
Id seen a couple of pictures and some articles.
The cumbia, I was familiar with the violence in the news during those years.
And I was familiar with how classist Monterrey is, how it is a land of contrasts.
Back in the 90s, there was something called theAvanzada Regia.
Theregios meaning people from Monterrey were ahead of everyone in terms of music.
So there were different fusions of cumbia from Monterrey.
Popular Mexican-rock musicians started to invite cumbia musicians; there were collaborations with hip-hop and other genres.
As I started to research it, I saw this culture disappearing in front of me.
That is what the film is about.
So, we had to re-create everything by the time we made the film.
The kids in the film, they didnt live in that movement.
They were so young that they dont remember it.
Your compositions develop organically.
I knew even before I started to write.
I come from a very visual-first approach to things.
And it was the same withLos Espookys.
Here I knew there was going to be more control.
It was a very delicate subject matter.
I wanted to stay away from the handheld accents that could tell or show the audiences how to feel.
The same with having a score, or other dramatic accents that are external to the characters.
The characters moving in the space that youre framing are not aware of how youre moving the camera.
They are living that world.
These actors are embodying those characters, so I wanted to keep it very pure.
But that was just an abstract instinct that later made sense with the subject matter.
This is a character in exile, so that affected the structure, too.
And memories are more emotion than information.
We remember things that affect or impact us positively or negatively.
AsIm No Longer Hereproceeds, Ulisess memories seem more and more distant.
The sound is going out, the camera is more distant from the character.
Its almost like youre finding a visual way to represent the way memory works and the way time passes.
Because you know that there is nothing better coming after that.
You want to just keep dancing.
You just want to hold on to that golden moment.
We react first with the impact of the emotion and then we can process it.
I didnt want to cut and have close-ups of blood spilling or anything.
Because youcanactually watch it three times.
Thats very difficult to articulate right now.
How would we have achieved that if we were not in such an incredible place of outreach?
You mentioned your formative years.
What were your early cinematic memories?
Which films and filmmakers made you realize you wanted to do this?
When I was 6, my father showed me [Ingmar Bergmans 1982 film]Fanny and Alexander.
I was blown away.
My dad always watched a lot of films.
OrLeolo, by Jean-Claude Lauzon, the French-Canadian film.
But then I discovered things on my own that I really connected with, particularly Aki KaurismakisDrifting Clouds.
It was something cool but sweet and stylized and naive and playful.
And then Edward YangsA Brighter Summer Day.
During my university years, there were very influential things, like the work ofLukas Moodysson.
I remember watchingFucking Amal.
I think they named it hereShow Me Love.
And at some point I was like, Wow,Julien Donkey-Boyby Harmony Korine is cool!
We were trying to see as much as we could and getting VHS or DVDs and copying films.
You go through phases, but some things just stick.
My influences have a lot of different colors or textures.
You said thatLos Espookysalso had a visual-first approach.
Can you tell me a little bit about how the style for that show developed?
Los Espookysis a project in which I put a lot of my heart and soul.
They needed someone who was from Mexico City, but could work [in the U.S.].
Through Sundance and other people, they found me.
I met Fred [Armisen], we immediately connected and we talked about music.
(That ended up becoming an episode ofLos Espookys.)
And I was like, I cant!
No, you should.
So I read it … and I didnt really understand it.
I was not very familiar withPortlandiabut it was very much like sketches, small sketches.
They invited me to do the pilot, but it would have to be Chile for many reasons.
And of course, all of the departments needed a translation of the script.
And who translated that script was me!
That somehow put me inside the pages and inside a collaborative experience.
This was the pilot.
I was lucky they liked my work, because they asked me to do the first season completely.
The language was already defined by me.
I wanted that to happen in front of the camera.
That ended up becoming the language of the show.
I said, Hey, can I just suggest things?
Yes, just, and well watch it.
He hadnt acted in many years.
I saw him and I was like, You have to be Renaldo!
