“ROCK, PAPER & SCISSORS is a thriller crossed with family drama and black twisted humor. The return of a prodigal daughter in search of her share of an inheritance puts her against her two half siblings and drags the family into a perverse struggle for power or ultimately at least for survival.”
Congratulations on your film playing in at Fantastic Fest this year! Is your first time at FF and are you planning to attend your screenings?
There are several of us who travel to Austin. For Macarena, co-director, and our protagonist Valeria Giorcelli, it’s going to be the first time. For Martín, co-director, and Javier Diment, producer and collaborator in the script, it’s going to be the second visit to Fantastic Fest. We’re going to attend the screenings, of course! We want to see this piece of art filled with nuances and delicate perversion. Oh, this wasn’t the moment meant to sell it?
I hear you are back at Fantastic Fest this year too! Tell me about what you have had here in the past, and your favourite aspects of the city.
In 2012 we were here with the film THE MEMORY OF THE DEAD, directed by Javier Diment and with a script by Martín Blousson. I fondly remember the hotel’s wonderful breakfasts and salads at the Alamo Drafthouse. We were also invited to eat some unforgettable ribs but I don’t remember the name of the place.
So how did you get into this movie-making business? Talk to me a bit about how you got your start and what you have worked on in the past.
Macarena: I slept with the producer.
Martín: Hey, I was gonna say the same.
Macarena: I worked a lot in theatre writing and directing many plays, some of which took me to travel around Spain, Costa Rica, etc. One of these plays was called “Sangre de mi sangre” (Blood of My Blood) and was the basis for the script of Rock, papel y tijera.
Martín: I started working as an editor and collaborating in scripts. I was introduced to filmmaking by Javier Diment, who became the producer of this film. I wrote his fictional debut film LA MEMORIA DEL MUERTO and then collaborated in the script and edited EL ESLABON PODRIDO, as well as being his assistant director. In the meantime I had the good fortune to work with other directors dedicated to genre cinema in Argentina such as Daniel de la Vega and Laura Casabé, as well as directing the documentary “El sentido derby” about women who practice roller derby in my country. It’s not easy to see this as a business. Still trying to figure out that part of filmmaking.
How did this project come together for you? Give me a rundown from the preparation, to shooting, to post-production to now!
It all began with a first adaptation of the play to a screenplay. Julieta, Macarena’s sister, collaborated in this first process. Javier Diment enthusiastically joined the project to get the National Film Institute funding and when this began to take shape, he participated in rewriting the script along with Martin who joined for the co-direction. The film had a very small budget, so we had to rehearse and plan a lot to make the most of the 15 days of shooting that began in October 2017.
The economic difficulties; the result of several devaluations and a deep crisis in the country, made the post-production prolonged and the film finished closing at the end of 2018.
What keeps you going while making a movie? What drives you?
Martin: In my case, on the most ethereal level I would say that the emotion and enthusiasm that comes from how incredible it is to be making a film. But in concrete terms, the liquid propolis that Macarena gave me.
What was your biggest challenge with this project, and the moment that was the most rewarding to you?
THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE WAS GETTING THE DAMN GUINEA PIG TO MOVE THROUGH A MAZE. The most rewarding thing is SPOILER.
I’m about to get technical, but I would love to know about the visual design of the movie; what camera did you film with, your relationship to the director of photography and how the movie was photographed.
The film was shot with a Sony Alpha AS7II. We worked in a real location and on the idea that as the host characters never leave the house they sort of merge with the location, as if they were part of it. When the outsider arrives, things start to change.
What are you looking forward to the most about showing your movie to audiences here in Austin?
The film is also a particular vision about Wizard of Oz. In that sense it is very interesting to come and show it to its country of origin. OH TOTO I THINK THIS SITE IS NOT KANSAS!
After the film screens at SxSW, where is the film going to show next? Theatrical, online, more festivals?
We already have invitations from the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival and Nocturna Madrid in October, and there will surely be more news soon. Soon we will have the premiere in our country which is also very exciting for us.
If you could show your movie in any theatre outside of Austin, where would you screen it and why?
Kansas!
We have a lot of readers on our site looking to make movies or get into the industry somehow. What is the ONE THING you would say to someone who is wanting to get into the filmmaking business?
BUSINESS? Again? We would advise that art is rarely going to bring you money.
Fantastic Fest takes place from September 19th to 28th. For more information on this film and the many others playing in Austin, TX, point your browser to www.fantasticfest.com!