Up and coming Columbian filmmaker, Alejandro Romero talks to Dale Pierce about Columbia, its reputation and its films.

Dale: You operate Eterna Films. Where is this located and what is your URL?
Alejandro: Eterna Films (that translates Eternal Films) is located in Bogotá Colombia, our URL is www.eternafilms.com.

Dale: What is the type of production you do?
Alejandro: We do feature films, short films, commercials, and musical video clips.

Dale: Do you see an upswing in the film, documentaries, television or DVD coming from Columbia, or seeing it stay the same?
Alejandro: in the past (ten years ago) you could see a Colombian films every five years or so, now, particularly this year, there are 30 Colombian feature films waiting to be released, that’s a big change, a real growth for the films industry in our country.

Dale: In films from other countries, Colombia is often seen as a war zone with drug sellers, terrorists and such. As someone living down there, is any of this true?
Alejandro: we have violence and drug problems, but here in Bogotá the capital city, you don’t see that. The war takes place, sadly, on the rural part of the country.

Bogotá it’s a big city, that you could compare to New York, on a smaller scale. We have the problems of any other big city in the world.

Dale: Do you think the bad image from some films, like in Scarface where the drug dealers cut off a guy’s arm with a chainsaw, have hurt the Colombian film industry or made outsiders reluctant to shoot down there?
Alejandro: I’ve always think that American films that take place in Colombia, have a lack of research, you could shoot a movie here and get incredible locations, and thousands of great stories, but due to the bad image that the rest of the world have of our country, the outsiders film makers prefer to shoot in other countries. But any way that fact does not affect the Colombian film industry, we know our own country and its stories.

Dale: Did you study film making in a school or just pick this up by experience?
Alejandro: I went to Unitec film School here in Bogotá, which is one of the best in the country and in Latin America.

Dale: And where did you learn the art of production?
Alejandro: Well, I learned production from all of my Film School projects, and now in the professional life, you have to figure out how to make possible your projects. Make phone calls, getting contacts, asking favours, learning from others. Last year I attended to a seminary with Jaime Osorio, the Colombian producer of “Maria Full of Grace”. You can learn a lot from persons like him.

Dale: Do you prefer production in comparison to say, writing documentaries, scripts or commercials, acting, or directing?
Alejandro: well, let’s just say that I can’t act to save my life, hahahahahaha.

What I like the about producing is that you make things happen, you are responsible for get things done, that’s hard but very rewarding. I have plans for directing a Sci-Fi film that I’m writing, but not right now.

Dale: What do you see for the future of South American films as a whole, for the whole continent?
Alejandro: the future looks good, the American audience is getting interested in our stories, and learning that Latin America it’s not only the Mexican border in Tijuana. Latin America has a huge diversity of cultures and stories, with dreams and problems very similar to yours in the States.

Dale: Any future plans or productions of your own?
Alejandro: right now where on preproduction for a feature film about a rock band that comes to the big city to become famous.

Dale: What do you think the Colombian people enjoy watching on television or film?
Alejandro: people like to watch novelas (soapbox operas) comedies, and series like the X-Files, Friends, C.S.I, that kind of stuff, in films the most successful Colombian movies are the ones that tells simple and popular stories, like Maria Full of Grace, Te Busco(looking for you), El Carro (the car) La Estrategia del Caracol (the snail strategy). Stories that are founded in our reality, with characters from the common, character that people can relate to.

Dale: Does the government back any films or arts with finances or are producers supposed to find funding on your own?
Alejandro: Every year the government gives money incentives to the best projects in a lot of categories, and also approved a new law that takes out some taxes obligations to the companies that invest in films and arts. But I think that this is not enough. First, the private companies don’t see the Colombian films as a profitable investment. Second, you have to be a famous producer or director to be taken seriously.

Years ago you could say that all the Colombian film makers were independent, but right now that is not true, because directors like Sergio Cabrera or Dago Garcia (very famous here) have the backup from big TV channels that help them with the promotion of their films. For us as a smaller company it’s a lot harder, we have to find funding from a lot of other sources, asking favours, making exchanges, shooting on digital video (that has been a great advance). We have to do things alone.

Dale: Do you have any interesting stories from behind the scenes about your work in the industry?
Alejandro: may be the most interesting story is this interview, we are an independent company, struggling to make our films, and to the date, we haven’t got the support from any of the biggest companies in the country, and here I am talking to you Dale and to all of your readers. It’s been really exiting for us.

Dale: Any closing comments?
Alejandro: I just want to say to all the independent film makers, that this is a very hard struggle, but it’s worthy of our best efforts. Our stories most be told, and some one has to listen.

Thank you very much Dale, May the force be with you.