With his first feature Dos Abrazos, Mexican director Enrique Begne shows how interactions with strangers can sometimes help bring us out of rough times. After the Guadalajara film festival, Dos Abrazos had it’s US premiere at Tribeca where it won the Best New Narrative Filmmaker Award. Our initial attempts to get in touch with Enrique left us empty handed, but then we finally got a break with some help from Simon Bross (director of Malos Habitos who happens to know Enrique). Catching up with Enrique in New York (where he was doing research for his next film), we spoke about his experience as a commercial director, feeling each scene and the challenges in making his beautiful and gritty debut feature.

How did you get started as a filmmaker?

Well I studied in film school in Mexico like 20 years ago. [Laughs] When I finished the school, I started working in advertising as an editor and then I started to direct advertising. The problem is, I founded a company and that was too much responsibility. Because you have to work a lot to maintain the company and employees, I didn’t have time to think about any personal projects.

So where is the idea of the film come from?

For a documentary I did an interview with a guy who was suicidal and he told me that affection was not enough of a reason to live. So I kept this idea in my mind all these years. When I met Paula (the writer), we started to talk [about it]. I told her I disagreed with that because I think affection is good reason to live. Maybe the most important reason to live. I wanted to try to demonstrate that idea. Then Paula told me about the idea that strangers can be closer then the people you know. So we mixed our ideas and our characters.

How did you like directing commercials?

I worked with many different clients. Maybe I’ll send you my reel so you can see my commercials. They are not like classical commercials… they are more strange because I had time to experiment with different techniques.

Have you done any shoots in the US?

Yes, just for commercials. I used to do work for Wendy’s, Epson and Sprint in the U.S.

Is it easier shooting in Mexico vs. the US?

I think… the union and the rules in the US are too complicated… I think while shooting you have to improvise. In the US it’s too difficult to improvise. You have to ask permission three days before and you have to talk to the union about anything you want to do. I remember the first time I came to make a commercial in the US they warned me that I shouldn’t talk to extras because they would try to get more work from me. We were in a big auditorium with a lot of extras in that commercial and I tried to talk to them but the producer said, “No, no please!”

There was some great interaction between the characters;
you really got a sense of what the characters were going through.

Thank you very much! I think that the most important experience of this film, for me, was to make sure each scene of the movie plays in an honest way. The film is about leaving your anguish behind you… because when you are in the middle of the anguish you can’t see anything around you and the only way to leave the anguish behind I think is to be honest with yourself and with the world. You have to be honest with your feelings and you have to believe in your feelings. I think that is the way to live this life.

It was interesting how each character had their own issues but their interactions with each other helped them to step beyond their problems.

Yeah absolutely. Sometimes strangers can become to be closer and helpful for you then your wife, brother or father because maybe when you are too close to the people you tend to not see them anymore. You are so close and you just stop seeing them. That is my idea. So maybe a stranger can become closer to you or more helpful to you. That is what happens in this movie. They are complete strangers and they don’t have anything that ties them together but at the same time, everyone needs someone to embrace them.

How was it shooting Dos Abrazos?

I think for me, the most important thing was to have enough time so my DP could do his job, to shoot and have time to work with the actors. I decided to lose all the complicated equipment like a crane and stuff like that … and just have my camera, the lights, my actors and enough time to work. I think that is the most important thing you have to have as a director, time and film. You need to have time to change your mind in the middle of a shooting day. My most important experience that I had with this film was that if you feel that one thing isn’t good that you don’t try to make it up. If you don’t feel the scene you have to change the scene completely. You have to stop and say, “This is not working,” and start again.

Did you have to change a lot of stuff on the set or

reshoot anything?

I just reshot one scene when Joaquin (the taxi driver) and the girl were speaking on the rooftop. When I shot the scene before… there was too much feeling inside the scene and it didn’t work. I felt like, “This is no good,” but I didn’t have a good idea how to change it at that moment. Finally when I finished this day I went home and I felt like shit… finally I decided to change the scene, but when I had time to reshoot I didn’t have the location anymore. The apartment [scene] was shot in a studio. I built a set because in Mexico the problem is… these kinds of apartments are in the middle of the path of airplanes. So it’s really noisy. The apartments also have short ceilings so it was too complicated to shoot the scene on location. So when I decided I wanted to change the scene the set was gone. I had to invent the scene on the roof. That was the only thing I had to reshoot. I had to stop many times and take a walk outside… I was smoking a lot. I was smoking like crazy. I quit like six months ago, but I was a very good smoker… [Laughs]

So how did you and your DP develop the look for the film?

I started to show him movies and my reference… and he showed me a different books and ideas he had about the film. When we felt sure about what we wanted to do, then we spoke to a production designer. But first it was just the DP and I that spoke together, and then we started to involve the rest of the crew. If the DP would come out and say I think this would better if we move the camera and do something different I would respect his opinion on the matter because he was part of movie. The same for everybody… because everyone has something to say and if you want to have a good movie you have to listen to each person in the crew.

What format did you shoot the film in? Was it Super 16?

No, it was 35mm and Super 8.

Oh… so you used Super 8 for the really grainy parts?

Yeah it was Super 8. I bought a camera about 5 years ago and I like it very much. So I shot with my camera.

It was great how you used different techniques to change
the feeling from the real world to the fantasy world.

You have to make, in the beginning like a general decision, like “Ok the home of Paco is going to look more or less like this,” or “The supermarket going to look more or less like this.” If you want to do something specific in one scene, you can talk to the DP and the crew but you have to start with a general decision about the look of the movie… I’m talking about the look not just the colors, and then in each scene you have to decide, “Well I feel it should be like this,” or “I have to shoot it in slow motion,” or maybe “I’m going to shoot scene just from behind the actors and never see their faces…” The way I work is more like what I’m feeling in each scene. I decide what is the way that I want to attack this moment of the scene.

There were some great simple scenes like when Paco was giving his little brothers a bath. The music was really good and the slow motion made it a really nice moment in the film.

This scene doesn’t exist in the script, but when I was showing the movie I felt I needed a happy moment... I liked the bathtub of this location and I said, “Lets go to the bathroom and have a scene!”

It was nice because it felt like even though Paco was going through all this stuff that he still can have a nice moment with his brothers… like his family helps him feel better.

Yeah and I think it would have been perfect to have Paco have sex with Silvina. No? [Laughs]

Yeah. What happened? [Laughs]

Poor Paco he had a lot of pressure in the movie.

He had his chance when Silvina pushed him up against the wall… but I guess he was too chicken huh?

Yeah, poor Paco. I think at the end… We made the decision to put some life into the script because life isn’t too black. You can live with a lot of pressure and anguish but you always have some good moments in your life. We decided to put some life in the script.

Were those things you added when you were shooting?

Every moment in Super 8 was my decision during the shooting. When Paco laughed with Silvia and when they are smoking and when Laura and Joaquin are dancing.

Yeah… those were all the happy moments. Actually it felt like the characters were fantasizing of a happy moment so they can escape the anguish they are going through.

You are absolutely right and I feel the most important thing when you make a movie is when people connect with your feelings… Talking to the audience after screening the movie is my favorite part of these festivals. I think you make the movies for this reason, to see how people connect with the movie.

Was there anything particularly difficult about shooting the film?

A major problem was I started the film without having all the money. I had to be the producer and the director at the same time, and I think that was my worst mistake. I was working my director books and I was talking on the phone with someone to ask for money at the same time. That was an awful experience. After that, maybe it was when I had to ask people to be friends. I remember when the location manager started a fight with the production designer and they were very close to actually fighting. They started to push each other but it stopped. You know you couldn’t take a side and you have to try to make amends…

Do you think that’s what you learned the most with your first film?

You have to make a good schedule for production. Also in post production… For example, I decided to finish my cut before I having the final music and final sound. That was a terrible mistake. In the next movie I’m going to have a very close cut and then I’m going to do the music and the sound. Then when I have the final music and sound I will make the final cut. I think you have to put all elements together at the same time. Time is the most important thing... that is my point. If you have time then you don’t have any excuses.

How was your US premier at Tribeca?

The first day… the problem was the production company that represented me in the USA for commercials; they tried to make it like a PR event. They bought a lot of tickets and invited agency people. I felt like it was a little fake…

So they were buying up tickets to show it film buyers?

No, it was more about showing it to advertising agency people in US to get more commercial jobs. The audience was not like movie people… but the second day was very good experience. We were having dinner on 34th and 8th avenue and the movie was showing at 10:30 pm. We didn’t think there would be any people there. The people from Tribeca called us on the phone saying could you come an open the film because the audience is expecting to see the director. So we ran like three blocks, you know how long the blocks are out there, and we got to the movie theater in time so that I could open the film. We were able to see peoples’ reactions to the film… they were more engaged and they were more authentic then the first screening. So it was a really great experience.

Did anyone ask you any questions that surprised you during
the Q & A?

Yea, more like a weird questions. I remember two young girls who asked me why I chose the taxi driver. I didn’t understand the question at the moment and I asked, “Do you think the taxi driver is too ugly?” They said he was too ugly! More like nonsense questions.

Is there any chance of getting distribution in the US?

I want to have distribution in US theatres. I have the hope that… it’s important to have the movie in NY, LA, Chicago, and San Francisco. Just NY and LA is good enough for me but now, I don’t have distribution in US yet. I have a prospect but nothing official.

What kind of advice would you give new filmmakers?

The most is important is… you have to be sure that you like every scene in the movie before you make it. Because if you’re not convinced of one thing, and you have to shoot it, you’ll start to suffer and suffer and suffer. When you do the rehearsal, when you do the shooting, you have to believe in each scene and you have to know the purpose of each scene in the script. If you don’t have a reason for a scene, just take it out. The other thing is to… keep your cool. Be the right kind of human being because that is very important. When I was young, I worked with a director who was always screaming and yelling… that was a nightmare. That’s not a good way to make movies.