Luciana Merino: The Chilean director and screenwriter is interested in a hybrid cinema which brings into tension the margins of reality and its deviations.
Pascal Viveros: Born in Los Ángeles, Chile in 1997, the filmmaker is intrigued by the possibilities of the digital image and explores new ways to represent the landscapes he is within. Alongside his work as a filmmaker, he is also a programmer and curator for various cinemas in Santiago de Chile.
What was your starting point for “Al sol, lejos del centro”?
When we think about cinema, we start with the formal aspects, considering how to create a language that can contain the images and atmospheres we desire.
“Towards the sun, far from the center” co-creates a space alongside chance and mise-en-scène; it envisions a city where our desires and those of the protagonists can exist. A digital zoom done in post-production stops at their everyday gestures, revealing new ‚Santiagos.‘
The short film is born as a love letter to our territory; we think about the long walks of teenagers falling in love on noisy roads, in open fields, in mega-buildings that often threaten the quality of life. We envision ourselves walking under the sun, where 40ºC doesn’t prevent us from loving, always finding shade, a plastic pool to cool off.
We draw much inspiration from the social crisis in our country in 2019, where an entire nation paused to imagine that another life was possible. That is what we wish for our cinema, always imagining exits, escapes, embracing risk and tenderness.
Do you have a favorite moment in the film? Which one and why this one?
Our favorite moments from the short film were experienced and seen at different times. This was because our shooting involved capturing extreme long shots over which we had no control, and only upon reaching post-production, which was simultaneously the editing process, did we discover what we had created.
A digital zoom traversed the proposed city to reveal a new one, where chance inevitably seeped into our choreography; it pierced through us and led us to discover millions of cities and possibilities within a portion of Santiago.
Thus, a cat appeared walking on a scorching roof, children played carelessly, a man watering plants, cranes constructing something the short film will never see; always a little bird colliding with our imagined reality.
What do you like about the short form?
We are intrigued by and greatly enjoy short formats. We are not interested in viewing them as a prelude to a feature film, but rather as a valid work in itself.
We believe in their ability to push an idea to its limit, to exhaust it, overflow it, subvert it. We are interested in all their possible obstructions, how they transform an apparent simplicity into something unsettling, always hinting at something, delivering a complete world to decipher in less than 30 minutes.
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PRESS REVIEWS
„The filmmakers, Pascal Viveros and Luciana Merino, use experimental techniques to challenge the norms of contemporary cinema and offer new perspectives on life in the Chilean capital. The film is conceived as a love letter to the city, seeking to accelerate change and open new imaginaries about daily life and ways of inhabiting the world.“
review in Spanish at Te gusta mucho el cine
„We can still clearly make out the individual houses drafting torpidly across the screen, but the dimensions are flattened – they become textured shapes on a flattened plain. Combined with the film’s contemplative pacing, it makes for a hypnotic experience (…) offering a peaceful urban portrait in contrast to recent political turbulence“.
review by Ben Nicholson for The Film Verdict
„“Towards the sun, far from the center, it is a symphony of a city that is wondering and trying to discover what the sentimental architecture of Santiago is ,” said Luciana Merino . “I like to think of the short film as a vanishing point that allows us to imagine new possibilities and landscapes for the place we live in ,” added Pascal Viveros.“
background infos at Bitacora de Cine
„“Today, the documentary serves as a great ambassador for Chilean cinema“
overview on Chilenian cinema at Berlinale 2024 by Variety
„Pourquoi on l’aime : Présenté en compétition courts métrages, Al sol, lejos del centro était pour nous l’un des sommets de cette Berlinale. A partir d’un dispositif qui évoque la caméra mystérieuse du Grand mouvement, Luciana Merino & Pascal Viveros filment un lieu avec une lenteur silencieuse qui invite un sentiment d’étrangeté. Qui regarde et où allons-nous ? L’expérience de Al sol, lejos del centro est ensorcelante et émouvante.“
mention at Le Polyester
„Dicht an dicht schwitzen die Häuser der Kleinstadt, wenige Menschen setzen einen Schritt vor die Tür. Zwei von ihnen sind die Protagonist*innen des Kurzfilms. Kommentarlos beobachtet der Film die im verschwommenen Stadtpanorama winzig erscheinenden Spielfiguren, die umhergehen, suchen und finden. AL SOL, LEJOS DEL CENTRO zeichnet kleine unaufdringliche Gesten am Rande, weit weg vom Zentrum der Stadt, vom Zentrum des eigenen Umfeldes und ist dabei gelegentlich so behäbig und schleierhaft wie die Bilder, die nur erahnen lassen, welche Gemüter sich dem queeren Paar außerhalb der Sonne entgegenschlagen.“
mention at Riecks Filmkritiken
„Ohne Worte und erklärende Texte transportieren ihre Bilder zugleich die Härte und den eigenwilligen Charme der Metropole, der die Sepia-Töne der gleitenden Kamera einen nostalgischen Schimmer verleihen. So überdeckt die naturalistische Gegenwartsszenerie ein subjektiver Schleier, der den formell schlichten Beitrag der Berlinale Shorts zu einer beiläufigen Notiz zur Omnipräsenz der individuellen Perspektive macht.“
review by Lida Bach for moviebreak
„In ihrem Kurzfilm im Rahmen der Berlinale Shorts lassen Luciana Merino und Pascal Viveros an einem heißen Sommertag zwei Frauen auf der Suche nach einem gemeinsamen Wohnort die chilenische Hauptstadt durchwandern. Stadträume, Territorien, Häuser und Details werden mithilfe digitaler Filmtechniken wie horizontaler Bildauflösung, Zoom oder Weitwinkelaufnahmen immer wieder in Flächen und Texturen aufgelöst. Der Film versteht sich als „Symphonie urbaner Landschaften“ und als „Liebesbrief“ an die Stadt Santiago.“
mention at Baunetz
„En tanto, en Berlinale Shorts, tendrá su estreno mundial el cortometraje chileno experimental “Al sol”, lejos del centro, dirigido por Luciana Merino y Pascal Viveros y producido por Javiera Pineda, y que da a conocer la historia de dos mujeres que deambulan por Santiago buscando un lugar para vivir su amor.“
mentioned at Forbes Chile
„With an abundance of chopped shots, the camera slides through a labyrinth of urban fragments that recall the text The Invisible Cities , by Italo Calvino. With a yellowed photograph and an image digitally processed to lose resolution, the short arouses nostalgia for something that has not yet happened.“
mention in Spanish at Goethe Institut
„The Chilean film “Towards the Sun, Far from the Center” also uses the documentary form, real drone footage as long sequences, to show the love for the city of Santiago, but at the same time to tell a queer love story. „
mention in german by Doreen Kaltenecker for Testkammer
„Chilean effort Towards the Sun, Far from the Center (Luciana Merino and Pascal Vivero, 2024, above) is excellent in its metronymic surveys of Santiago, finding a viewpoint that flattens the urban landscape into a 2D block of near-static imagery.“
mention by Fedor Tot for Journey into Cinema
“Today, the documentary is serving as a great ambassador for Chilean cinema. (…) Now we have the premiere of Oasis and Towards the Sun, Far from the Center at Berlinale, one of the most important film festivals in the world. The documentary sector has consolidated its artistic and technical quality and, above all, its ability to attract global audiences with the themes it addresses.”
Nick Cunningham for Business Doc Europe
Mentioned at
bibio chile,
DIRAC – Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Chile,
Rialta,
Infobae
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ETC.
„Al sol, lejos del centro accompanies two women on a walk through Santiago de Chile. Only at the end do we realise that they have been looking for a place for their love.“
interview with section head Anna Henckel-Donnersmarck for Berlinale Topics
Berlinale Shorts 