San Franciscan Filmmaker Ria Fay-Berquist is visiting Argentina and SeirenFilms. Here’s an extract of our chat with Ria sharing her unique South American experience and dreams about her first feature “The Mothers”.

Why did you decided to come to Argentina?

I had been invited by someone who’s writing process I really jive with. I was very curious about South America too, never having been here. Of course, it also keeps with the tradition of writing in short spurts in the southern hemisphere. The first draft was written in Australia.

How are you enjoying the local lifestyle?

I am going to miss, painfully, mate at 4 o’clock. There is also an abundance of ice cream shops here, which is the sugar addict’s equivalent to living in front of an opium field.

Most exciting event since you landed in South America?

The natural disaster warnings that turned out to be a man selling fish. Definitely.

Tell us a little bit more about the project you’re working on right now and the recent evolution of it.

It’s called The Mothers and it is sort of a meditation on power, but from a low-income perspective. It’s a story that is extrapolated somewhat from my early childhood experiences, but ended up needing a great deal of clinical and legal footwork. I spent the (North American) summer doing research at a residential treatment center for boys near Chicago, and have been to some conferences and done quite a few interviews, including one with an InterPol detective. I was recently invited to submit the script to the Berlinale Talent Campus’s Script Clinic, and have high hopes for that. It is my first feature, and I am hoping that the second, third, fourth, and fifth will be much more strategic. I wrote the first and second drafts and now I am writing the treatment. My mom tells me that when I was a baby I went from sort of scooting around like a sea lion to standing up and walking one day. She had to teach me to crawl after I had already learned to walk. That speaks volumes about the way I work.

What are your plans for the future regarding The Mothers. Plans? Dreams? Expectations?

I have quite a few talented people who have signed on to the project, and some others that I am working on recruiting. I am really excited to see what kind of collaboration that will emerge from this. I am still aiming to shoot next summer. The main plan/dream/expectation is that it will all come together simply and beautifully - it will be a film that we can all be proud of and that I will want to see thrown into the world.

Can you come up with a quote, a line, a story that sums up what you´ve recently learnt in Buenos Aires, regarding your experience as a filmmaker?

I have been reading mythology since I’ve been here, and a book about Psyche and Eros, which was really interesting to me, personally. Now that I think about it — two things. One is Linda Segar’s autograph on the inside of my friend’s book that says, “Enjoy the process.” This writing is such a process. It’s like painting; you prime the canvas, then you do an underpainting, you continue to add layers and details until everything is there. Writing is a little more nebulous since the pictures only exist in your head. The second thing is a quote from Lily Burana’s website: “If you’re not scared, you’re not even in the room.” That’s Pam Houston. Fear is the ultimate creative accelerant. If you explore that fear and use the adrenaline to fuel your writing, you are doing tremendous service to your work-and your readers. That’s Lily Burana.

Final words to SeirenFilms?

Thank you/ Muchisimas gracias.

For more info about Ria´s work, please check out Prize Fight Films

Seiren Films talked to Ria Fay-Berquist days before the launch of PrizeWriter, an interview based blog that promises some of the most interesting Film interviews and articles you could find these days.

Let´s hear what she has to say…

SF-What is PrizeWriter? And why did you decide to create this blog?

PrizeWriter is a ‘blogozine’, an interview-format monthly post that features conversations with filmmakers, artists, and writers. Like the official description says, we have a predilection for those who showcase the flair and rich inner lives of struggling/working-class folks around the world. I started it because I feel like socioeconomics and the culture or style that emerges from working class communities is very rich, and often is lost or dumbed down in outsiders’ interpretations (though not always). It’s particularly meaningful to me as someone who grew up struggling and is also an independent artist and filmmaker. I like and relate to the resourcefulness of people who have had to work very hard, or oftentimes sort of ‘invent’ themselves, in order to create their dreams — thus the PrizeWriter title, a play on Prize Fighters (amateur boxers).

SF-Tell us a little bit more about PrizeFight Films and your future projects?

PrizeFight Films is similarly themed. In fact, PrizeWriter came out of a desire to converse with and showcase other people who were doing the work that I felt connected to, or inspired by. People who were telling the kinds of stories that fell outside of that hackneyed ‘tale of lack’ that we often see framing low income people’s lives. The typical stories of struggling communities that are saved by the (usually white, wealthier) hero from outside - cinematic or narrative imperialism. People often save and change their own lives, through a much more interesting internal process. We don’t just sit around being dysfunctional thinking about what we don’t have until Clark Kent passes through! Haha.. Anyway. I have two major stories in development. One is a story about a fourteen year old girl who is struggling to cope with the loss of her father, and running into a lot of trouble with violence. She befriends a young man who becomes sort of a surrogate male figure to her, but eventually unearths some things in his history that have directly affected people who are dear to her. The crux of her development sort of hinges on how she is able to feel personal power without violence, even in situations where an outsider might see it as being warranted. The second one is a love story - but all details on that are top secret!

SF-Who is going to be featured in the next Prizewriter interview?(Crossing fingers here…:))

It’s a surprise! Tune in at the beginning of each month, or click this link to subscribe

Check out PrizeWriter at http://www.prize-writer.blogspot.com/

Seiren Films comienza un nuevo Proyecto de animación. Con una mezcla de realización 3D, retoque digital y Stop Motion se llevará acabo el cortometraje “Laika, Albina y Muschka”

En este momento se está llevando a cabo el proceso de Diseño Conceptual e Investigación de materiales.El proceso de producción tomará alrededor de 6 meses y se realizará enteramente y artesanalmente como producción de Seiren Films.El guión y dirección estarán a cargo de la Diseñadora de Imagen y Sonido M.Laura Ruggiero.

Seiren Blog documentará todo el proceso de creación a través de Diarios de Rodaje, siendo la primera entrada durante el proceso de Pre-producción.