“THE OPRHAN is the story of a boy who’s been adopted and then returned due to his feminine manners.” Director Carolina Markowicz on short film THE ORPHAN which screens at SxSW 2019 Film.
You are back! Tell me about your previous experience here at the festival and what you showed.
My previous film LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP was at SXSW and although I couldn’t be there because I was shooting, it was awesome to see how it changed things for me to be at SXSW as many people saw the film and it opened many doors for me as a filmmaker.
How did you first hear about the short films at SxSW and wishing to send your film into the festival/conference?
I have known about it for a while, and it has always been a dream to have a film screened there.
Tell me about the idea behind your project and getting it made!
It was inspired by true events. Not an exact true story of this specific character, but there has been kids adopted and then returned for the reason the film shows. So this moved me a lot, and I wrote a script about it, that won an award, so I was able to do it.
Who are some of your main creative inspirations for this short?
The real boy that I met, that had been through a similar situation, and that inspired my to shoot it.
How did you put the short together from a technical viewpoint? What sort of cameras/lenses did you use, and any creative challenges in making it?
It was a very low budget project, and this is always a challenge. DOP Pepe Mendes worked very closely with me to create this naturalistic look, hand held. We shot with Amira-Alexa and Zeiss lenses from the 60’s.
What would you suggest to theatres or even film festivals as a way to show more short films theatrically or make them more accessible to audiences across the country?
I guess sessions with curated short films could interest audience a lot. 4 or 5 short films. I’d love to see that in a row.
If you know of anyone around you wanting to become a filmmaker, or even put together shorts, what would you suggest to get their start?
First, find their voice, understand what you want to say and how. and then, the hard part, find out how to finance your projects!
And finally, what is your favourite short film of all time?
I like many shorts so it’s difficult to point only one!
This is one of the many film titles playing at SxSW 2019. For more information on this and any other title playing in the festival, point your browser to http://www.sxsw.com/film!