Deserts, Women and Magical Realism: The World of Andrea Mae Perez

Andrea Mae Perez is a Spanish-American multi-disciplinary artist. Through video, photography, and numerous artistic collabs, she's spun a captivating and multicultural world around herself. Her short film Desert-ar was showcased as part of the BFI Future Film Festival 2017's official selection.

Hola! As a director and photographer, you work in both still and moving image. How do you balance out your energy and vision between the two mediums?

Photography is a big part of cinema. And it has the power to tell a story or convey an emotion in one still image. So in some way, photography teaches me precision and detail, qualities that I like to use in my films. For me, mise-en-scène is everything, having the light, the color and the choice of props tell the story. Essentially, both mediums feed each other.

Both in your photography and in your cinematography, you seem to have a taste for analogue techniques: 35mm film, hand-coloured portraits, and Desert-ar which has been graded in a way not unlike the character and colors of Kodachrome. Why this nostalgic aesthetic?

I like to consider film as a fine art form, like Maya Deren once said. I understand this as making film as much of a manual and artistic activity as possible. In other words, the film becomes a personal endeavor.

You say your work is inspired by Magical Realism. Can you tell us a bit more about this?

In magic realism, the most unreal and surreal is conceived as something completely real and natural for the characters. And so, their craziest emotions can be perceived in a tangible manner. This is one of the most fascinating qualities of cinema for me, how efficient it is to represent the most intangible, such as emotions, reactions, feelings, etc through tangible choices.

You are originally from Madrid, studied Arts in London, and currently live in Paris. How have all these different cities and cultures shaped your artistic vision?

Madrid was where I grew up, and therefore, where my curiosity began. I was a film geek since the age of 3 when I got my first VCR, I watched at least 3 films every day for many years, and reproduced scenes from many of them. Eventually, Madrid became the place of experimentation. I did dance, photography, and theater which then led me to cinema. It was in London though, where I came to be as a filmmaker. There I learned so much, from history to practice. I met an incredible group of talented creators who became my friends and also my collaborators. This time also shaped the start of my own personal "style". I have still to evolve in Paris artistically, but for now, it inspires me every day.

Women seem to be a recurrent them in your work. Why is that so?

I am a woman raised by a woman so this definitely influences who I am and what I choose to represent in my work. I have been surrounded by strong female characters my whole life. In Spain, where I have spent most of my life, I feel that culturally, women have an extremely strong, brave and direct way of being. Somehow, this feels more personal to me.

What new projects will 2017 bring?

For now, an exciting new music video project, photographs for a few bands, and meantime I will be writing and developing a few ideas, both for short films and a feature. I also plan to keep submitting my short film Desert-ar to festivals, which just got shortlisted for the BFI Future Film Festival in London!!! Still, what I am looking forward to the most is that which I do not expect!

To see more of Andrea's work, please visit her website and follow her on Instagram.

geschrieben von kamilakstanley am 2017-07-10 in #Menschen