|
Wednesday 7.3.2001
Jury duty is fun and relaxing
Norma Rivera says she is flattered to have been chosen for the International Competition jury. It's a pleasant job because she can enjoy the films without the stress and responsibility of organizing. She is in charge of organizing film screenings and exhibits for Lima's film archives.
Norma Rivera works in Lima's film archives.
|
Rivera feels that competitions serve as an opportunity to bring films to people's attention, rather than to place them in some kind of hierarchy. Competitions are like "going to a different class at school”, where filmmakers can get influences and new ideas and compare their work with others. She particularly likes international competitions where the viewers bring a different cultural viewpoint. Just being nominated is a victory in itself. A film is the product of teamwork, so its screening is a reward for the entire team.
Preserving Peruvian film
Under Rivera's direction, the film archives, which are part of an international network, have 14 years behind them. Their job is collecting and archiving Peru's film production, as well as collecting material on Peruvian film published abroad.
The archives are restoring old films as well. Cleaning and other restoring work is done in Lima, and the restored film is then typically sent to Mexico to be copied, as Peru doesn't have a film laboratory of its own. They are currently working on their third full-length film restoration.
Exhibitions and screenings
Arranging film screenings and exhibitions is also part of the archive's job. International alternative films are screened along with Peruvian films, six times a week so that each film is shown on three occasions. The audience is typically made up of young moviegoers who come to see films that aren't shown in theaters.
The archive has screened Aki and Mika Kaurismäki's films. Rivera believes that their very independent style is the key to their popularity. The sparse dialogue of Kaurismäki films allows the image its place in the storytelling, says Rivera, as she recalls the final scene of Kauas Pilvet Karkaavat (Drifting Clouds) with rapture.
Exhibitions are built around photographs, costumes, and films from Peruvian movies. Filmmakers are often happy to donate material. For example, all of director, scriptwriter, and producer Francisco Lombardi's films, as well as a great deal of related material, are in the archives.
Difficulties getting films to theaters
Theaters in Peru mostly show North American commercial movies, according to Rivera. Simply finding the funds to make a movie is hard enough in a poor country. If you can manage that, getting it distributed is just as difficult. On top of that, film profits are unequally distributed. The distributor takes 60% while the producer gets 40%. With foreign films, the ratio is reversed: 60% for the producer, 40% for the distributor.
Since 1994, competitions have been organized yearly to award grants to makers of long and short films. Three directors are chosen in each competition. The sum awarded doesn't fully cover filmmaking expenses, but it does provide the needed capital and makes it easier to get the film into theaters. The program has produced 6 long and 24 short films.
|
