“Latin America must be a different cinematic power, no longer a narcoculture power”: Colombian director Felipe Vallejo premieres his film ‘What runs through your veins?’ in Ecuador.

The Colombian filmmaker Felipe ‘Pipe’ Vallejo He is in the country to be part of the premiere of his latest film What flows through your veins?an action and drama title set in Latin America that aims to entertain and above all show a new type of storytelling that is possible in the region.

The film stars the Spanish actor Emmanuel Esparza (Perfect lies, The Lord of heaven) And Lina Restrepo (Wild flower, the queen of the south, without breasts there is no paradise).

The film plans to preview this Tuesday November 14th in Super Cinemas Riocentro Ceibos, with a red carpet and invited media having the opportunity to meet the director and screenwriter, winner of two India Catalina Awards (for Best Fiction Script and Best Director of Series). The film will then be available to the public from Thursday, November 16.

Before the premiere, Felipe Vallejo offered this interview via Zoom.

What is it about What flows through your veins??

It is an Ibero-American film with actors of different nationalities. It’s an action movie with drama. My idea, since I conceived the story as a screenwriter, was to be able to reach the Latin American audience without the film being sectorized within a specific region, but that every Spanish-speaking person could understand it, suffer and care about it can cry. , have fun.

What do you think of the perception that Latin American cinema sometimes focuses heavily on social condemnation and not on other genres?

I agree with you because I feel like we have stopped at social condemnation and sometimes we forget that ‘art, if it is entertainment, is good’. I believe that entertainment is as much a part of cinema, and if it becomes just a complaint, let’s not forget that documentaries also exist.

With this film I have no other intention than to entertain the audience and the family, because it is classified for children from 12 years old, where you are going to see action, where you are going to see a little bit of drama, you are going to see a little bit, it will give you a little bit worry about what is happening. But it has nothing to do with misery porn, which many people have dedicated themselves to putting on screens. I think it was good and that we can have Latin America as another cinematic power, which will no longer always show them the same misery, or our Latin narcoculture, especially the Colombian or Mexican one, which is so stigmatized.

What will it take to ensure there are more action titles in Latin America?

Be daring, be daring. I feel like there is a comfort zone where only the Latin American dynamics of social condemnation and misery porn are shown. These films win prizes at festivals and for their directors that is the best: winning for a film that talks about a problem that has existed for 40, 50 years. But when they put them in theaters, they don’t work because not all people are interested in that story. I feel like a lot of directors want awards but don’t want to entertain the audience.

What does the new action hero for Pipe Vallejo look like?

We are in the age of the anti-hero, in quotes, because the media and production companies are looking for the everyday citizen to be that everyday hero virtually every day. The audience wants to see real stories that portray the man on the corner. In my case, in this action film there is a boy who works in a supermarket chain and finds himself in a very complex situation.

Who is Pipe Vallejo’s favorite action hero?

For me, it was undoubtedly Superman, who marked my childhood, with his ability to break a wall with his gaze or fly. And I feel like he’s not as recognized a superhero as he used to be. And among actors, Liam Neeson is a broadcasting actor and all his films are very good.

What are your next steps or new projects on the horizon?

I’m finalizing the budget for my next film, it’s a drama. This is a situation someone had in 1998, it’s based on real life. He is a soldier from Colombia who was involved in a guerrilla takeover that year. The film records everything that happened to him in captivity. When the guerrillas took him away, a number of situations happened to him that honestly seem so absurd. He talks a lot about PTSD, a post-traumatic stress disorder. So it is a very psychological story, a little more complex than What flows through your veins?, but without losing that part of the entertainment.