His passion was born in the old Atlántida cinemas and Steven Spielberg and his endearing E.T. were largely to blame. He was then just a four-year-old boy, to whom this film "of high magical potential" awakened his interest in the seventh art and led him to wonder what was behind the cameras. A story that may remind many in part of that Cinema Paradiso that moved so many, but which, on this occasion, is real and was born in Lanzarote. And, that boy, who is now 33 years old and has a long career as a short filmmaker, will premiere this Friday, in those cinemas that marked his childhood, his first film, "Six Points About Emma". A film that has an exceptional cast, with Verónica Echegui, Álex García and Fernando Tielve as protagonists. "It is a pride to know that my film is going to be in a cinema, like the Atlántida, where I have seen films that have marked me a lot and where my passion for cinema germinated", says Roberto Pérez Toledo, the director of the film.
Born in the Titerroy neighborhood in April 1978, Roberto Pérez Toledo spent his adolescence, camera in hand, recording his neighbors. "I had a camera that my parents gave me and I had a very clear uncertainty about doing audiovisual things. I recorded my neighbors, people in the street and even did live montages, cutting to change the shot. A totally artisanal and retrograde thing, but that was directing me towards that goal."
He studied Audiovisual Communication in Salamanca and, thanks to that, according to him, he was having contact with people "who had the same concerns, who wanted to make short films, who had scripts, who knew actors." "Afterwards, I moved to Madrid, took some screenwriting courses and started making my first short films, which for me have been the real school. It has been making one short after another, without a penny, without resources, but focusing on the act of trying to communicate with the public and telling things that interested them, empathizing with them and, little by little, realizing what I was wrong about, so as not to try to repeat mistakes," explains this young filmmaker from Lanzarote.
Thus, he has spent the last decade of his life, leaving titles behind him such as "Globos", "Vuelco", "Nuestro propio cielo", "Manguitos", "El amor y las gambas" or "Tetequiquiero", among others. "I have about twenty or more short films and many have gone around festivals all over the world. Now I have a short film in motion called "Los Gritones", which has worked very well and which won a prize at the Notodofilmfest, which has won more than 40 awards internationally and has been seen in more than 150 festivals around the world," says Roberto, who expresses that "it's amazing when you do something and it connects with people from places where you've never been and maybe never will be and you see that people react, that they understand what you want to tell."
The leap to feature film
However, despite his recognized career as a short filmmaker, Roberto wanted to make the leap to feature films, although, he specifies, that does not mean that he is going to leave the world of short films aside. "After the film, I have even made a couple of short films and for me there is no barrier between short and long films. For me, they are films, some last eight minutes or one, and others an hour and a half, as is this case. But the idea of developing a feature film has been present in recent years, as a need to tell a story that could be developed in a longer way and that had a greater intensity and depth," explains this filmmaker.
Thus, four years ago, the idea of "Six points about Emma" arose, although, due to financing problems, it could not be filmed until last year. "The big problem for making films is to put it together financially, even if it is an apparently simple film like ours. It costs a lot. And those four years were mainly spent looking for funding, because if it was difficult before, now as we are, I won't even tell you," says Roberto.
"Six points about Emma", says Roberto, "is a story of characters". "In this case, a young blind woman, determined to be a mother, who undertakes a search for a perfect sperm, but without wanting to fall in love along the way, because falling in love only leads to suffering and complicating things and she decides not to mix feelings. However, the film shows that things are not as she wanted, because feelings always splash us and are present," explains the young Lanzarote native. A "fun and entertaining" story. "We wanted to do something easy to watch, that my mother, my cousins from Lanzarote could like, because I have already made short films that have been like squares and, in this case, we wanted to make a film thinking about the public", he adds.
The title of the film is not a coincidence. And it is that, if it is called "Six points about Emma" it is because in braille (the main character is blind) any letter can be written combining six points and, thus, the script is structured, in six parts. Even the fact that Emma is blind does not come from nowhere either. Roberto is in a wheelchair and, although this is not a story of overcoming, or anything like that, disability is in the background. "They are people to whom things happen that are far above disability. And that is what I wanted to tell in this story and go further, because I do not turn my disability into the center of my life," explains Roberto, who says that his disability has never been a problem for his profession. "I travel on solid ground, where I can move and I have always been with people who have not put cables in my way," he says with a laugh.
And it is that, this young Lanzarote native, has always tried to make his work "speak for itself". "No one has to know that the director who made such a short film is in a wheelchair. And many times, when I go to collect awards, and I say that they get me an adapted room, they are surprised. I find it hard to believe that there are people who think that because I am in a wheelchair I am unable to direct. It seems absurd to me," says Roberto.
Cast
In addition, Verónica Echegui, known for her leading roles in "Yo soy la Juani" and "El patio de mi cárcel" is in charge of giving life to Emma and, according to Roberto, who had previously worked with her, "has given a human and charismatic dimension to the character". "Everyone in the film is great and I am most proud of the actors' work, but Verónica, who is the common thread of the film, the one who leads the viewer through the whole story, has done a great job." "She has put a lot of charm into it and I think people are going to like it," he adds.
Another of the protagonists, and on this occasion Canarian like the director of the film, is Álex García, known for his roles in "Amar en tiempos revueltos", "Sin tetas no hay paraíso" and "Tierra de lobos". "Álex is a Canarian actor, who is growing very well and in the film he has shown a new record, with a character that he has enriched, above what is written," says Roberto, who says that it is "a luxury to have had them".
Together with these two well-known actors is also Fernando Tielve ("El espinazo del diablo", "El internado"). The film also features Nacho Aldeguer ("La pecera de Eva", "Cuéntame"), Mariam Hernández ("Plaza de España", "Vaya tropa", "Cuestión de sexo", "La tira"), Antonio Velázquez ("Paquirri", "Tierra de lobos"), Paloma Soroa (presenter of the program "En lengua de signos" on La 2), Mabel del Pozo ("No soy como tú") and Blanca Rodríguez ("La caja", "La isla interior").
The film was shot for five weeks, at the end of last year, in Tenerife. "It was shot entirely there. I spent Christmas Eve for the first time outside of Lanzarote, in Tenerife, with the actors in a hotel and we finished filming on December 30," says Roberto, who adds that, yes, he spent New Year's Eve "in Lanzarote." Now, the first film of this Lanzarote native comes to light and this Friday it will premiere in the Atlántida cinemas of Arrecife.
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["Filming in Lanzarote is one of my great pending tasks"->62440]
