Meteoro: A Possible Utopia Against Hollywood

INTERVIEW
'One must leave the islands because islands are for gannets, and one must go to the continents. One must return, but one must leave' — this is the advice that Puerto Rican filmmaker Diego de la Texera carries as a maxim, inherited from his great-great-grandfather.

Despite having lived in El Salvador, Venezuela, Cuba, and Brazil, de la Texera never lost pride in his origins. He welcomed the El Nuevo Día team alongside his wife, actress and producer Maria Dulce Saldanha, to talk about 'Meteoro', the film that inaugurates the 18th edition of Cinema Fest Puerto Rico.

The filmmaker identifies necessary elements for a local production — beyond being successfully made — to reach the audience: cinema as a profitable industry, more sensitive exhibitors and distributors, and financial incentives. For him, the 'giant hand of Hollywood' suffocates even prosperous industries, displacing local films with blockbusters like 'Superman 5'.

However, Diego believes that the public wants to see more human and identifiable stories. 'Hollywood cinema works with formulas; Latin American cinema does not, because many of our stories have not yet been told and have a freshness that touches the soul,' he states. He refutes the idea that portraying Hispanic idiosyncrasies means a negative reflection: 'We want to see ourselves well on screen, and we can speak of reality in that way.'

Another central point is the cultural and humanistic training of film students: 'It is necessary to know the light of Rembrandt, that of Van Gogh, and the different artistic movements. This sensitizes and allows for working on technical aspects more effectively.'

The filmmaker also emphasizes the importance of production generating revenue and of the work reflecting in the box office, without losing sight of the struggle for authentic cinema.

FESTIVAL CONTEXT
'Meteoro' was chosen for the event's opening, which seeks to expand its influence to more cities on the island, offering the alternative of seeing films from other parts of the world — 'an invaluable initiative that opens windows to the cinema of great directors, rather than great spectacles,' as added by critic Luis Trelles, honored in the same edition.