Molina´s Borealis

#14 / MOLINA´S BOREALIS Y SU RECORRIDO POR FESTIVALES

Amigos

Después del Festival del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de la Habana en diciembre y el Festival Internacional de Cine Pobre de Gibara en abril, Molina´s Borealis ha sido seleccionado para participar en CINEFIESTA de Puerto Rico en julio como parte de la selección oficial. Si el recorrido por festivales no ha sido más movido es por la incapacidad para poder pagar desde Cuba el entry fee de muchos de estos eventos, no por carecer de la suma pedida que a veces es irrisoria, sino, por mi país no ser parte del ámbito financiero internacional haciendo esto imposible pagar desde acá cualquier cosa a través de la web.

Gracias a la generiosidad del mecenas José Manuel Braña Alvarez quien no solo subió el corto a www.festhome.com(algo muy importante porque es una plataforma desde donde tienes acceso a todo el circuito festivalero y puedes desde allí inscribir tu corto en cuanto festival exista, pagando el entry fee, por supuesto), sino que inscribió y pagó la cuota para optar participar

#13 / ESTRENO DE BOREALIS EN EL 35 FESTIVAL DEL NUEVO CINE LATINOAMERICANO

El pasado lunes 9 de diciembre como parte de A Medianoche, sección de Latinoamérica en Perspectiva del 35 Festival del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano, se proyectó en calidad de estreno mundial en el multicine Infanta sala 1 Molina's Borealis. Estaban allí Leticia León, su bella protagonista, Roberto Perdomo, el protagonista masculino,Annie Boza, la directora de arte, la maquillista Alissa Pelaez, la sonidista Claudia Pando, la asistente de cámara Quetzali Malagón, el productor asociado Raúl Capote, el mezclador y postproductor de sonido Leo Dolgan, Joao Riveres, diseñador de créditos. Del equipo faltaban el montajista Miguel Lavandeira, el productor Ricardo Figueredo, el D.P. Javier Pérez Avila e Hilda Elena Vega, la asistente de dirección, cada uno por razones justificadas. La sala estaba repleta y la mayoría del respetable solo fue a ver Molina's Borealis. Al final una estruendosa ovación premió al cortomatraje. En general a cada persona que me encuentro le gusta mucho esta

#12 / LOOKING FOR BOREALIS 12: TEASERS POSTERS Y POSTERS

Aquí van algunas propuestas de teasers posters y posters diseñados por mi amigo, el artista de la plástica Harold Pérez Lamorú querido amigo y colaborador. Espero les gusten.

#11 / LOOKING FOR BOREALIS 11: BOREALIS IS REAL

Amigos

Aquí les va un recuento de lo que ha estado pasando con Borealis desde finalizado el crowdfunding hasta ahora.

El 8 de septiembre comenzó el rodaje de esta experiencia audiovisual de Molinator. Partimos a las 6:a.m. hacia la locación ubicada en el poblado de San Antonio de los Baños al oeste de la Habana. El equipo conformado por 17 personas, incluyendo los actores, llegó a la locación sobre las 6:30 a.m. y enseguida armamos el tinglado para comenzar sobre las 7:40 a.m. , nada más el sol despuntara por el oriente. Ubicamos la casa de apoyo para que los actores descansaran y se pudieran vestir y maquillar. A las 7:50 a.m. se rodó el primer plano del día, perteneciente a la secuencia 2 del guión. Fuimos interrumpidos por una vecina entusiasta que enseguida pidió los permisos de rodaje porque si no llamaría a no se cuanta gente del gobierno local y a la policía. Le enseñamos los permisos a la adnegada señora combatiente y no contenta, insistió en llamar a las autoridades,

#10 / LOOKING FOR BOREALIS 10: STILLS AND SCREEN SHOTS

#09 / LOOKING FOR BOREALIS 9: FIRST LOOK

#08 / LOOKING FOR BOREALIS 8

As soon as I came back from Puerto Rico and the US I went back to preparing for filming Borealis. These days have been decisive for the project. I have met the actors and the crew, I have worked with the producer in the budget and talked to him about the feasibility of the production, I have visited some of the chosen locations and together with the DP made some tests of the underwater scene we will shoot with actress Leticia Leon, looking for the best way to film those complicated shots. We still need to work on some details but we have almost everything ready. We will begin shooting on Sunday, September 8th in San Antonio de los Baños.

Desde mi regreso de Puerto Rico y EE.UU, he retomado la prefilmación de Borealis. Estos días han sido muy definitorios en la preparación del proyecto. Me he reunido con los actores y el equipo técnico, he trabajado con el productor sobre el presupuesto y la viavilidad de la producción, visitado las locaciones seleccionadas y junto al director de

#07 / LOOKING FOR BOREALIS 7

Today part of Borealis team met: producer Ricardo Figueredo, directing assistant Hilda Elena Vega, art director Annie Boza, DP Javier Pérez and I, in order to study the critical path until starting to shoot Borealis. Some days ago we started to look for the locations in San Antonio de los Baños, which is a very convenient place and also near our base camp. The shooting of some scenes turns out to be cheaper on the spot. We thought about shooting in the movie theater, some streets and the room of the star actress, but there are still a couple of places to check, although Borealis is about to close in.

As there are some sequences by the seaside in which the actress will appear naked, we just decided to put off the beginning of the shooting for September, to avoid curious eyes, since August is the mid-summer time and everyone is on holiday, so it would be very hard to shoot on the beach. In the meanwhile, we’ll continue our long preproduction process, taking care of each and every

#06 / LOOKING FOR BOREALIS 6

Yesterday, Thursday, July 4th, Javier, Annie, Leticia and I got to Sara´s house in Santa Fe at around 10:30 a.m. to take a look at the pier. The location is fabulous, way too romantic for the end of the story but perfectly suitable, a bit expensive for a Molina type of budget, but we can always negotiate with the house owner, she was very nice and sympathetic to us. We took some pictures and made a couple of videos of Leticia in the location and it looked really well, it created a sort of gloomy mood in a rarefied and grey summer day. Here are some pictures and several storyboards that Javier has made inspired by the shooting script.

Ayer jueves 4 de julio Javier, Annie, Leticia y yo llegamos sobre las 10:30 a.m. a casa de Sara en Santa Fe para ver el atracadero. La locación es fabulosa, demasiado romántica para el final de la historia pero perfectamente utilizable, un poco cara para los presupuestos molinianos pero negociable con su dueña que fue

#05 / LOOKING FOR BOREALIS 5

On Tuesday, June 25th, we went to Santa Fe and Baracoa Beach hoping to have better luck. In Baracoa we found nothing, the houses by the sea are quite deteriorated and the sea water is really contaminated. If Leticia goes for a swim there we will have to bury her after we finish the film. Then, we went to Santa Fe, the coastline there is very attractive, but shooting can be quite difficult since some revolutionary leaders live in that area and getting shooting permits can be complicated, though not impossible. Thanks to my friend Andros Perugorría, who lives in that town, we could find a house that has all we need for our film. But our luck was not so great... the woman who lives in the house was not at home. Anyway, we got her phone number to get in touch with her and ask if we can shoot in her house. Later we called her and agreed to meet Monday, July 1st, but since yesterday it´s been raining nonstop in the West of Cuba and it is difficult for me to go from San Antonio to Havana.

#04 / LOOKING FOR BOREALIS 4

Last Wednesday, June 19, we went to Cojimar to look for locations for Borealis. Ricardo, Javier, Annie and I went around the coastal town in the East of Havana. During our long walk we met the troubadour Ray Fernández… yes, he, himself, the one who sings “fight your cassaba, indian”, an artist I greatly admire. During our tour we just found some houses, a street, a bridge or an interesting place…I admit that I was not very happy with that visit. It is incredible how fast the country, its cities, towns, streets and houses get destroyed. It is very sad. I had some pictures of fisherman houses, wood quays I had taken two or three years ago. Some of the house are not there any more, some others are so damaged that it is not possible to shoot them. What a pity! Next Tuesday 25 we will visit Santa Fe and Baracoa beach, let see if we have luck on our side that day.

EL pasado miércoles 19 de junio estuvimos en Cojimar, localizando para Borealis. Ricardo, Javier, Annie y yo nos recorrimos

#03 / LOOKING FOR BOREALIS 3

Last Saturday June 15 we made costume test with Leticia who plays SHE in Borealis. Annie, our art director and costume designer, looked for among her own garment and among her girl friends´ to find the perfect costume inspired by her designs. If that idea becomes real, it would lower costs since we would not have to manufacture costume. The costume test took place at Yessy's house, our script girl, located in 11 street in Miramar without mishap. Four costumes were approved. We are still missing the gown SHE wears to covers her nakedness when coming out of the sea at the beginning of the film. Javier Pérez, the new cinematographer, shot several videos of Leticia wearing different outfits to see if the texture of the fabrics would not make any noise. Then, Javier , Ana Sanchez (producer), Raul Capote (associate producer), Yessy, Leti, Annie and I talked about the visual of Borealis. I also shared with them and especially with Javier, some thoughts on the production of the short. I

#02 / LOOKIN FOR BOREALIS 2

Borealis’ team met yesterday to plan a route toward the shooting of this film. There were: The Producers, Ana Sánchez and Ricardo Figueredo, the Direction Assistant, Hilda Elena Vega, the Director of Photography, Alan González and the Costumes Designer, Annie Boza. We organized a Costumes Try On with the actors (Alexis and Leticia) for the next Saturday and a visit to locations on Tuesday, June 18th. After the Costume Try On and the corresponding photo session, we will make a “page to page” and the people in charge of the breakdowns in every area, they will discuss them with me. I’ll share with you a couple of photos and some costume designs of Annie Boza who will make the Art Direction under the advisory of Onelio Larralde.

Ayer nos reunimos parte del equipo de Borealis para empezar a trazar una ruta hasta el rodaje de Borealis. Estaban los productores Ana Sánchez y Ricardo Figueredo, la asistente de dirección Hilda Elena Vega, el director de fotografía Alan Gonzalez y la

#01 / LOOKING FOR BOREALIS

Some days ago, Leticia, the actress who will play the leading role in Borealis, Annie, the costume designer and I, met in a coffee shop next to the 16th street beach, a place that in the 80s was mythical for young people in Havana. My plan was to take some pictures of her and Alexis (who never showed up) in order to make the crowdfunding site of our project more exciting.

We had some sort of brainstorming session around the project, talked about the characters´ behaviour, about potential locations, went over some costume ideas, etc.

Things are looking good!

A while later, Luis, Leticia´s boyfriend, joined us and helped me take the pictures. We had a nice afternoon and agreed to meet again next weekend to have a proper costume test and get Alexis and Leticia together to have a better photo session. Coming soon, in this blog, some art and costume design proposals by Annie.

Hace unos días nos reunimos Leticia, la protagonista de Borealis, Annie, la diseñadora de vestuario y yo,