{"id":25738,"date":"2016-11-16T13:00:52","date_gmt":"2016-11-16T17:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.brazilianpress.com\/v1\/?p=25738"},"modified":"2016-11-16T13:00:52","modified_gmt":"2016-11-16T17:00:52","slug":"the-director-writer-of-esteros-on-why-rural-argentina-was-the-perfect-setting-for-their-lgbt-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brazilianpress.com\/v1\/2016\/11\/16\/the-director-writer-of-esteros-on-why-rural-argentina-was-the-perfect-setting-for-their-lgbt-drama\/","title":{"rendered":"The Director & Writer of \u2018Esteros\u2019 on Why Rural Argentina Was the Perfect Setting for Their LGBT Drama"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"esteros-1\"<\/p>\n

By Manuel Betancourt<\/p>\n

Two youngs boys in rural Argentina bond in ways that suggest a budding sexual
\nattraction. Comfortable in their own bodies and equally at home sharing a shower as
\nthey are a bed, they eventually part ways only to meet again over a decade later. By
\nthat point, Mat\u00edas (Ignacio Rogers) seems uncomfortable when seeing his old friend
\nJer\u00f3nimo (Esteban Masturini), not least because while he\u2019s told his girlfriend all about
\nhis idyllic childhood escapades by the Uruguay river, he\u2019d never talked at length about
\nJero.
\nIn Esteros, opening Friday, November 18th in Los Angeles and followed by other cities, Papu Curotto\u2019s debut feature (an extension and a reworking of his earlier
\nshort, Mat\u00edas y Jer\u00f3nimo, where two young boys witness a hate crime), the palpable
\nchemistry between his leads is sexy and heartfelt. It adds to the ambiguity of the
\nrelationship between the two: while Jero is openly gay and at ease in his own skin, the
\nfilm doesn\u2019t condemn nor victimize Mat\u00edas\u2019 own discomfort at the attraction he feels for
\nhis longtime friend. Their coming together is treated with a delicate sensuality that feels
\nreminiscent of Looking\u2014not surprising given Curotto\u2019s admiration for Andrew Haigh\u2019s
\nwork.<\/p>\n

\"esteros-2\"<\/p>\n

Beautifully showcasing the estuaries of the river that give the film its title and offering us
\na move away from the urbane world of contemporary LGBT cinema, Esteros may read
\nlike a well-worn story but its undeniable sultriness makes it a revelation and an
\nimpressive calling card for the first-time director and his screenwriter, Andi Nachon.
\nAhead of the film\u2019s screening at New York City\u2019s NewFest, we chatted with Curotto and
\nNachon over Skype about the treatment of childhood sexuality in Esteros, the
\nimportance of a rural setting for their drama, and why they\u2019re so excited about their
\nfollow-up project. Check out some highlights below.<\/p>\n

\"esteros-3\"<\/p>\n

On Turning a Short Into a Feature Film
\nAndi: The core set piece of Mat\u00edas y Jer\u00f3nimo was key to Esteros. What we did in the
\nshort was make it very self-contained and we were able to do that. But then we realized
\nthat that moment of violence wasn\u2019t as important to the story. But there\u2019s obviously a
\nconnection between those boys in the short and the ones in Esteros.
\nPapu: When we began to work on this project, I had never directed before. Esteros is
\nmy first movie. So to direct Mat\u00edas y Jer\u00f3nimo was a way to see how we all worked
\ntogether as a crew and to work on the film\u2019s look not to mention figure out how to work
\nwith children. So not only was this my first film but it was my first time working with kids
\n\u2014and to tackle sexuality with child performers. So producing the short was key to
\nfinding a way to communicate with the young boys.<\/p>\n

\"esteros-4\"<\/p>\n

On Working With Non-Professional Child Actors
\nPapu: Both sets of kids\u2014for the short as well as for the film\u2014are non-professionals. We
\ndid castings not in drama schools or anything but in regular high schools. For me it was
\nvery important to find boys who were from the area so that they could better reflect the
\nregion, you know, in terms of their cadence and their relationship to the space. We
\nwanted kids who were attuned to the environment of the film. That they wouldn\u2019t have
\nissues working and playing outdoors\u2014we needed them to have a looseness to them,
\nwhen it came to their bodies. It was quite the process. First we did a casting call where
\nwe didn\u2019t tell them what was in the script. When we found some that matched physically
\nour older actors, we then talked to the parents what the film was about. That\u2019s when a
\nhandful of parents took their own kids out of the running, and others who were still
\ninterested. So we asked them to relay the film\u2019s plot to the boys. We were curious how
\nthey would breach the issue of sexuality to them. At the beginning it was a struggle for
\nboys we cast but throughout rehearsals we focused on getting them to work on how
\nthey gazed into each other\u2019s eyes. I encouraged to sort of keep their eyes locked in and
\nto inch ever closer and closer, to the point where they were comfortable staring at one
\nanother while being inches away. I wanted them to not be self-conscious about that
\ncloseness. That was key.<\/p>\n

\"esteros-5\"<\/p>\n

Andi: In addition, Papu worked a lot with them ahead of the shoot. Not just in terms of
\nrehearsal but he would just spend time with them. Going to the river, playing ball. They
\ngot to know the actors who were playing Mat\u00edas and Jer\u00f3nimo as adults. To get them
\ncomfortable around one another.
\nOn Avoiding Gay Stereotypes
\nPapu: We found both our leading actors through casting calls. Ignacio was an easy get;
\nMat\u00edas was an easier character to cast. Esteban, though, had originally auditioned for
\nMat\u00edas but he ended up as Jer\u00f3nimo. That was a trickier character to find. We didn\u2019t
\nwant him to fall into the stereotype of a \u201cgay guy.\u201d It\u2019s something that can happen quite
\neasily in LGBT films. I think sexuality is a key part of one\u2019s identity but it need not isolate
\nnor define you. When we were building this world and this character, we talked a lot
\nabout how we wanted Jer\u00f3nimo to move outside of that.
\nOn Looking to Other Movies for Inspiration
\nPapu: One film that I love and that I just find beautiful is Tomboy. It\u2019s a movie that really
\nnails childhood sexuality with a simplicity that\u2019s just amazing. There\u2019s Gus Van Sant, of
\ncourse. And then, another film that portrays male sensuality really well is Weekend by
\nAndrew Haigh. I love it and I kept it as a reference in terms of handling the samesex
\nintimacy in our film. The other film we talked a lot about was Summer Storm for the
\nway it depicts space and the environment around its characters. We also looked at a
\ncouple of other non-LGBT films that helped us with that, in terms of capturing nature
\n(we obviously love Malick as he has a great way of doing that).
\nAndi: We also thought especially about some Argentinean films like The Last Summer
\nof La Boyita for that as well.
\nOn the Importance of the Film\u2019s Rural Setting
\nAndi: For me the script was really about that. There were two strands here: there\u2019s the
\nlove story between two boys but it\u2019s key that it happens in this specific context. But
\nwhen it comes to Argentinean films, I think it\u2019s also crucial to move away from the urban
\nworld, exploring different areas outside of the city. And in that the landscape was very
\nimportant\u2014it\u2019s almost a part of the characters. It\u2019s a place that Mat\u00edas longs for. It\u2019s a
\nkind of lost paradise for him. And then these vistas are also breathtaking. The setting
\nmay seem rather plain but it\u2019s so vibrant and alive, and it\u2019s something I think the film
\nconveys really well.
\nThis interview was conducted in Spanish and has been translated by the author for
\nRemezcla<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Manuel Betancourt Two youngs boys in rural Argentina bond in ways that suggest a budding sexual attraction. Comfortable in their own bodies and equally at home sharing a shower as they are a bed, they eventually part ways only to meet again over a decade later. By that point, Mat\u00edas (Ignacio Rogers) seems uncomfortable when seeing his old friend Jer\u00f3nimo (Esteban Masturini), not least because while he\u2019s told his girlfriend all about his idyllic childhood escapades by the Uruguay river, he\u2019d never talked at length about Jero.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"views":3312,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brazilianpress.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25738"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brazilianpress.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brazilianpress.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brazilianpress.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brazilianpress.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25738"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.brazilianpress.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25744,"href":"https:\/\/www.brazilianpress.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25738\/revisions\/25744"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brazilianpress.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brazilianpress.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brazilianpress.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brazilianpress.com\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}