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Centripetal

Fiction/35mm/2011
Director: Alex Méndez Giner
Cast: Sandy Siquier, Jesús Sosa, Rafael Marrero
Executive Producer: Juan Bernardo González
Production Director: Fadia Bardawil
General Producer: Anixe Bilbao
Cinematography: Raoul Held
Music and Sound: Javier Blanco
Editing: Leonardo Zuloaga/Alex Méndez Giner

Synopsis

A couple traveling in the middle of the night, get accidentally involved in a crime.

Director's Statement

Centripetal posits the idea of a self-contained universe, a micro-cosmos. Characters with competing needs and desires are forced to co-exist, something that—as the title suggests—prevents them from ever moving forward. Unlike my previous films, I decided to unpack the ideas in a straightforward narrative with a clear three-act strategy. I wrote the script in a strict format, splitting the number of pages and lines to yield a hyper- controlled narrative space. Every line delivered, every twist, corresponds with a familiar position within the narrative structure, rendering an otherwise experimental film accessible to a wider audience while still capturing my thoughts on indirect discourse, in which characters are proxies for abstract ideas.

Although simple in its writing, the film’s production required more than a year of fundraising and pre-production. The film is still today one of the best-funded shorts in Venezuelan history, with top-of-the-line film equipment and innovative post-production techniques. I see this film as a bridge in my career, spanning the celluloid and digital worlds. Shot in 35mm film, the project was post-produced entirely using high-tech digital facilities.

Festivals

  • Tolfa Short Film Festival. Italy 2013

  • Winner. Best Story, Short Category. 7th Buffalo Niagara Film Festival. USA 2013

  • 1st Annapolis Film Festival. USA 2013

  • 8th Detmold Intl. Short Film Festival Germany 2012

  • ELCO 2012 (Fest. de Cine Entre Cortos y Largos de Oriente) Venezuela 2012

  • 28th Chicago Latino Film Festival. USA 2012

  • 8th Rengo International Film Festival. Chile 2012

  • Festival Zona Urbana.  Venezuela 2011

  • Winner. Audience’s Choice Award. 14th Shanghai International Film Festival. China 2011

  • 19th Chile Intl. Shortfilm Fest. of Santiago. Chile 2011

  • 16th Ourense International Film Festival. Spain 2011

  • 8th Syracuse International Film Festival. USA 2011

  • 23rd Viña del Mar International Film Festival. Chile 2011

  • 8th Cusco International Film Festival. Peru 2011

  • 10th Miami International Shortfilm Festival. USA  2011

  • 4th Margarita Latinamerican Film Fest.Venezuela 2011

  • 3rd CHORTS Caracas Intl. Shortfilm Fest.Venezuela 2011


Other Events and Exhibitions:


  • 35th Interfilm Berlin International Short Film Festival 2019. Program Focus On: Insight Venezuela

  • Venezuelan Short Film Retrospective at Asociación Cultural Peruano Británica (Britanico). Peru 2019

  • Miami Short Film Festival. Venezuelan Short Film Retrospective "Focus on Venezuela" USA 2016

  • University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg. Artist Talk and Screening. 2013

  • Mobile World Congress. Spain 2012. Shanghai Short Film Winners Program



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