Villa del Cine: Lights, Camera, Revolution!
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T&T Venezuela Bolivarian Solidarity
Aug 13, 2007, 9:18:49 AM8/13/07
to Venezuela Solidarity@Google
This year all Venezuelans will be able to enjoy
productions made in Villa del Cine, Venezuela’s new studios,
inaugurated on June 3, 2006.
Some of the films include Miranda Regresa (Miranda Returns), Un té en la Habana (Tea in Havana), La Clase (The Class), Libertador Morales, el justiciero (Liberator Morales: The Avenger), and documentaries such as Venezuela Petroleum Company, Víctimas de la Democracia (Victims of Democracy), and Concibiendo Revolución (Revolution’s Birth).
The Villa del Cine, located in Guarenas, 30 minutes away from Caracas, is an organization affiliated to the Venezuelan Ministry of Popular Power for Culture and part of Venezuela’s Filmmaking and Audiovisual Platform, together with the National Film Library, Amazonia Films and the Autonomous National Filmmaking Center (CNAC).
Its goal is to boost film production based on principles such as inclusion, democratization and sovereignty, and promote our culture.
Villa del Cine is 25,833 square meters and features production studios, post production offices, state-of-the-art equipments and spaces at the service of film makers, independent national producers and communities.
In 2007, it will produce 19 films and two TV series: Miranda Regresa (Miranda Returns) and Zamora.
Collective vision, work and inclusion
In order to comprise Villa del Cine’s creative staff, different professionals were called. Likewise, it developed areas related to audiovisual production services such as costumes design and tailoring, and set design. In addition, cooperatives, as well as small and mid-sized businesses, were hired.
Lorena Almarza, President of Villa del Cine said that “we are trying to rescue the film making collective vision because we have learned that film making has been very elitist and egos have been boosted together with an elite vision.”
She went ahead: “a director does not shoot a film by himself; he/she needs a big coordinated staff in order to move forward, impregnate film making with collective values, and incorporate experienced and green film makers who have not had the opportunity of shooting a film. Our work has included inclusion.”
Another characteristic is the incorporation of communities into film making. For instance, members of communities have participated in films as actors, actresses, extras and production assistants.
Almarza stressed that “this inclusion project has also reached actors and actresses. For instance, some actors and actresses have only participated in TV and their development was limited.”
One example is Venezuelan actor Jorge Reyes, who has had a long experience in TV and now plays the part of Miranda. According to Almarza, “his personal and professional performance is wonderful; it is very different from his work in TV.”
Theater actors and actresses have also been incorporated. Almarza said that “theater people were never accepted in TV and film making. We have included them. For instance, in the film Tríptico 1 (Triptych 1), most of the actors and actresses have only worked in theater. In the film La Clase (The Class), we managed to include Ana Julia Rojas, who is an outstanding theater actress and teacher. So, it has involved giving opportunities to other great actors that were not able to participate in films or TV.”
Scripts
In order to guarantee productions, Villa del Cine has invited writers to turn in their scripts in order to create a data bank of scripts to make films.
Regarding this issue, Almarza explained that “one of the Venezuelan film making industry’s problems is scripts. We are trying to establish a permanent project to invite writers to develop ideas.”
Currently, Villa del Cine is inviting writers to turn in proposals aimed at making films for children since part of the commitment is to turn Venezuela’s film making aimed at children into something permanent in Venezuela’s cinemas, with the possibility of exporting them.”
Other invitations have been extended. In 2006, Villa del Cine received scripts for short films and it chose four scripts that comprised the project called Trípticos (Triptychs). In 2007, it opened a process to receive free-theme scripts. 180 ideas were received and 12 were chosen so that their creators could participate in a training workshop in order to develop them. Once the workshop is finished, four scripts will be chosen.
The next invitation will include Films about Social Movements in Venezuela.
Training spaces in the film making field
In Venezuela, film making was not a priority in the State’s cultural policies; this resulted into scarce training spaces in the film making field.
Today, staff is scarce, but Villa del Cine is working as a training space where well-experienced and green professionals work as assistants. The idea is for a film to be a laboratory in order to train people.
Likewise, this training is carried out through a project called Culture in Progress, which is comprised by three levels: film screening, movie forums and discussions; training workshops in equipment handling, and scripts and production.
Lorena Almarza explained that the idea is to carry on with training in order to develop a film making school in Venezuela. “We are working on the conceptual and academic design; we want it to be a school including integrated training for technicians, cameramen, and directors, among others. We want everybody to share an integrated vision regarding film making.”
This school is expected to have 300 students and to be located in coastal Vargas state.
Almarza highlighted that the idea is that titles granted by this school are endorsed by the Venezuelan Ministry of Popular Power for Culture.
Production 2008
By 2008, 20 films are expected to be made; two of them will focus on history. “The first one is Cipriano Castro and the second is about a female Venezuelan, but we are working on that; it could be about Luisa Cáceres de Arismendi, or Josefa Camejo, but it can also deal with the participation of women in Venezuela’s independence process,” said Almarza.
The idea is to keep on making history films, but next year we are going to move forward regarding police issues or experimental works. Likewise, we will continue inviting script writers to turn in their scripts.
Some of the films include Miranda Regresa (Miranda Returns), Un té en la Habana (Tea in Havana), La Clase (The Class), Libertador Morales, el justiciero (Liberator Morales: The Avenger), and documentaries such as Venezuela Petroleum Company, Víctimas de la Democracia (Victims of Democracy), and Concibiendo Revolución (Revolution’s Birth).
The Villa del Cine, located in Guarenas, 30 minutes away from Caracas, is an organization affiliated to the Venezuelan Ministry of Popular Power for Culture and part of Venezuela’s Filmmaking and Audiovisual Platform, together with the National Film Library, Amazonia Films and the Autonomous National Filmmaking Center (CNAC).
Its goal is to boost film production based on principles such as inclusion, democratization and sovereignty, and promote our culture.
Villa del Cine is 25,833 square meters and features production studios, post production offices, state-of-the-art equipments and spaces at the service of film makers, independent national producers and communities.
In 2007, it will produce 19 films and two TV series: Miranda Regresa (Miranda Returns) and Zamora.
Collective vision, work and inclusion
In order to comprise Villa del Cine’s creative staff, different professionals were called. Likewise, it developed areas related to audiovisual production services such as costumes design and tailoring, and set design. In addition, cooperatives, as well as small and mid-sized businesses, were hired.
Lorena Almarza, President of Villa del Cine said that “we are trying to rescue the film making collective vision because we have learned that film making has been very elitist and egos have been boosted together with an elite vision.”
She went ahead: “a director does not shoot a film by himself; he/she needs a big coordinated staff in order to move forward, impregnate film making with collective values, and incorporate experienced and green film makers who have not had the opportunity of shooting a film. Our work has included inclusion.”
Another characteristic is the incorporation of communities into film making. For instance, members of communities have participated in films as actors, actresses, extras and production assistants.
Almarza stressed that “this inclusion project has also reached actors and actresses. For instance, some actors and actresses have only participated in TV and their development was limited.”
One example is Venezuelan actor Jorge Reyes, who has had a long experience in TV and now plays the part of Miranda. According to Almarza, “his personal and professional performance is wonderful; it is very different from his work in TV.”
Theater actors and actresses have also been incorporated. Almarza said that “theater people were never accepted in TV and film making. We have included them. For instance, in the film Tríptico 1 (Triptych 1), most of the actors and actresses have only worked in theater. In the film La Clase (The Class), we managed to include Ana Julia Rojas, who is an outstanding theater actress and teacher. So, it has involved giving opportunities to other great actors that were not able to participate in films or TV.”
Scripts
In order to guarantee productions, Villa del Cine has invited writers to turn in their scripts in order to create a data bank of scripts to make films.
Regarding this issue, Almarza explained that “one of the Venezuelan film making industry’s problems is scripts. We are trying to establish a permanent project to invite writers to develop ideas.”
Currently, Villa del Cine is inviting writers to turn in proposals aimed at making films for children since part of the commitment is to turn Venezuela’s film making aimed at children into something permanent in Venezuela’s cinemas, with the possibility of exporting them.”
Other invitations have been extended. In 2006, Villa del Cine received scripts for short films and it chose four scripts that comprised the project called Trípticos (Triptychs). In 2007, it opened a process to receive free-theme scripts. 180 ideas were received and 12 were chosen so that their creators could participate in a training workshop in order to develop them. Once the workshop is finished, four scripts will be chosen.
The next invitation will include Films about Social Movements in Venezuela.
Training spaces in the film making field
In Venezuela, film making was not a priority in the State’s cultural policies; this resulted into scarce training spaces in the film making field.
Today, staff is scarce, but Villa del Cine is working as a training space where well-experienced and green professionals work as assistants. The idea is for a film to be a laboratory in order to train people.
Likewise, this training is carried out through a project called Culture in Progress, which is comprised by three levels: film screening, movie forums and discussions; training workshops in equipment handling, and scripts and production.
Lorena Almarza explained that the idea is to carry on with training in order to develop a film making school in Venezuela. “We are working on the conceptual and academic design; we want it to be a school including integrated training for technicians, cameramen, and directors, among others. We want everybody to share an integrated vision regarding film making.”
This school is expected to have 300 students and to be located in coastal Vargas state.
Almarza highlighted that the idea is that titles granted by this school are endorsed by the Venezuelan Ministry of Popular Power for Culture.
Production 2008
By 2008, 20 films are expected to be made; two of them will focus on history. “The first one is Cipriano Castro and the second is about a female Venezuelan, but we are working on that; it could be about Luisa Cáceres de Arismendi, or Josefa Camejo, but it can also deal with the participation of women in Venezuela’s independence process,” said Almarza.
The idea is to keep on making history films, but next year we are going to move forward regarding police issues or experimental works. Likewise, we will continue inviting script writers to turn in their scripts.
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