Documentary “Why is life like this?” Demystifies the identity of the Mexican

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Documentary “Why is life like this?”  Demystifies the identity of the Mexican
This content was published on March 29, 2022 – 15:33

Monica Rubalcava

Mexico City, March 29 (EFE). – How Mexicans see themselves and why do they do it this way is explored in the documentary “Why Life Like This?” Directed by Mexican director Olalo Rubio.

The work, made with public funding, sets a precedent not only for the phenomenon of microfinance, but also for being the first film in Latin America inspired by a podcast.

“Out of all the projects I’ve done, this is definitely the one I’ve learned the most from. Understanding that the issue of the national identity of the Mexican seems to be an important myth to me and I think it should be discussed further (…) to continue to think that the Mexican is an inherently defeatist, I think It’s not true and it’s not, explains this Tuesday to Effie Rubio, screenwriter for the project with journalist Evan Neblas.

Produced by Convoy Network, the film was born out of the hottest podcast on the platform titled “Why?” It was written by both.

In this show, the creators question the great unknowns – sometimes absurd ones – that haunt the heads of so many humans under Robin Moya’s novel.

“It’s a parody of investigative journalism paired with philosophical wanderlust, a work of humor in which we try to answer questions like why do men have nipples? Why do we eat animals? Why does Covid seem invincible? It’s kind of like an audio documentary,” says Rubio, also an anchor.

The idea of ​​making a “too TV” themed version of the project was born in 2016, the same year the director launched the Convoy Network’s podcast platform.

microfinance

Since then, Olallo has set himself an important challenge, which is to make a film that has nothing to do with any political and economic power, and the only way to do that was through the support of his followers.

“I’ve always wanted to try crowdfunding. I thought, What would happen if we could fund a movie that couldn’t be funded from state resources because of its subject matter and that wasn’t comfortable for private initiative either? Funding can only be done with the same people who want to see it,” he explains.

“We had the perfect project, it had to be an uncomfortable, critical, humorous movie,” he deepens.

Rubio launched the first call to raise 800,000 pesos (about 43,200 dollars) from the Kickstarter platform, and despite the poor expectations of the managers, they received 1,500,000 pesos (about 81,000 dollars).

The project started before the epidemic arrived and everything was delayed, it ran out of money and started hard work of “convincing” its followers to get resources again and be able to finish the movie, which they will watch absolutely free on its platform. Starting March 31.

The director, who revealed that he had raised 4,000,000 pesos (about $216,000), admitted, “I had a responsibility to make a film that the audience who funded it would love. ) Donated by 4,727 people who will see before anyone else the virtual screening of the film this Tuesday.

Hitachi 1985

If there is one thing that distinguishes Rubio’s film projects, it is the 1985 Hitachi TV which appears in his feature films from “This Is Not a Movie” (2011), through “Ilusión Nacional” (2014) and now in “Why is life so?” .

Says the author of the film, which has more than 1,000 entries, documentary material and about half an hour of animated work.

“I have a romantic relationship with her, I have a love-hate relationship with television, and this was my first relationship in my bedroom (…) I discovered (Stanley) Kubrick and (Jean-Luc) Gordard and many other directors.”

Finally, Rubio hopes that the film will generate a reflection of the identity of the Mexican in those who watch it.

“It’s important to generate national unity, that’s fine, but I think maybe it’s time to restore other myths and replace old myths with new ones,” he says. EFE

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