Exclusive Interview with Bruna Cabral

Filmography:

www.imdb.me/brunacabral

Biography: Bruna Cabral is an award-winning filmmaker from Rio de Janeiro with a passion for creating emotionally remarkable stories. She graduated with Business and Management of Entertainment, Producing and Directing degrees from UCLA. PIECE OF ME is her debut short film as Director, also written and produced by Cabral. She was awarded the Special Jury Mention Award at the Short of the Year Film Festival in Spain, the Best First-time Director Award at Oniros Film Awards in Italy, and Best Production at Prague International Monthly Film Festival in the Czech Republic. PIECE OF ME has been nominated for 33 Festivals, including the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, accredited as Academy Award Qualifying and awarded in 11 Film Festivals worldwide. Cabral’s first feature film as Associate Producer, HAM ON RYE, Directed by Tyler Taormina, held its World Premiere in 2019 at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, accredited as Academy Award Qualifying. HAM ON RYE was selected for the Locarno Film Festival, also accredited as Academy Award Qualifying. The New Yorker mentioned the feature film in its article “The 2021 Oscar Nominations, and What Should Have Made the List”. The short film, HEADWAY, Produced by Cabral and Directed by Camila Rizzo, held its World Premiere in 2018 at the LA Shorts International Film Festival, accredited as Academy Award Qualifying, and was awarded in 12 Festivals.

Cabral was awarded Best Producer at the Queen Palm International Film Festival. Cabral supports female filmmakers having her projects screened at the Hollywood Women's Film Institute: Hollywood Women's Film Festival, La Femme International Film Festival, and Muestra de Cine Mujeres en Escena. She won the first place award in a Herbalife commercial contest in France in 2016 among more than 300 filmmakers. She was invited to be a Jury at the Short of the Year Film Festival in Spain and T.I.F.A – Tietê International Film Awards - in Brazil. Cabral has worked with well-known actors and athletes, including Jon Lovitz, Stephen Kramer Glickman, Ernest Thomas, Chris Elliott, Michael Madsen, and NFL football player, Tony Gonzales. Her talent for creativity and productivity leads her to work on feature films, short films, commercials, promos, and on-demand fitness content. Bruna is currently based in Los Angeles.

www.imdb.me/brunacabral

First of all, congratulations on your career! It's a pleasure talking to you! How has your relationship with cinema been throughout your life in Brazil and USA? Has it been changing?

I have loved movies since I was little. For less than two hours, you can be transported to another reality. Film is such a powerful thing and can take you anywhere. It takes us to a place that can be wonderful, dramatic, or emotional and makes us forget about our everyday life and get immersed in a story. I grew up watching movies with my friends and family and remember feeling inspired or moved by certain films. It was a passion for me in Brazil but not a career yet. Back there, I graduated from Law School and worked in the Legal Department of Globo, the largest multi-brand and diversified media conglomerate in Latin America. It worked well since I always had that strong interest in the Entertainment Industry. In 2014 I dared to switch careers and decided to be part of the culture of creativity, and my passion for movies led me to pursue a career in the film industry as a filmmaker and not a lawyer anymore. I graduated with both a Business and Management of Entertainment degree and a Producing and Directing degree from UCLA. Since then, I’ve worked on a variety of award-winning projects. The whole process has been so much fun, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t come with its challenges. I grew up a lot in a short period in my career and personal life to find myself inside the entertainment world. Overall, my experience has been amazing, and I can’t wait to see what else is around the corner. My advice would be to just go for it for anyone thinking about following this path. Passion, hard work, and determination will get you where you want to go.

How would you define your experience as a Producer? What things do you think you have found, and what have you lost along the way?

It’s helping me find myself and my voice. I have a passion for creating emotionally remarkable stories, and I keep my projects in this direction. I want my audience to be touched and moved by the story they are watching.

I learned to overcome challenges and developed my quick problem-solving skills. Productions don't go smoothly even if you put meticulous work into planning. The reality is that no matter what you do something out of your control will go wrong. I learned to have quick and decisive problem-solving skills to avoid delays and ensure deadlines were met when this happened. It's essential to allow challenges to help us grow as professionals. We always end up figuring out a solution.

I lost my fear of asking for help. At first, because I was new to the industry, I saw it as a sign of weakness but learned that by asking for help, I could be much more effective, efficient, and creative by reaching out to other people. Collaboration is the key to success.

I'm exhausted by the end of the day, but there is no feeling like watching your finished project screen for the first time. Whether my role was big or small, I always think, “I did that!” It will all have been worth it. The hard work is always worth it.

“Piece of Me” not only have you produced it, but you have written and directed it. Covering such complex areas must have been a challenge. How was it that you were encouraged to carry out this project?

Alzheimer’s disease is a subject that hits close to home as my beloved grandfather succumbed to it while my aunt is currently suffering from this degenerative condition. Its complex nature adversely inflicts emotional distress on loved ones mainly because they are commonly incognizant of the proper ways of coping with it. By telling this story through the eyes of an innocent child, I am able to shed light on its repercussions from a positive perspective and heartwarming approach by emphasizing the powerful message that love is unconditional and will always triumph over life’s adversities.

Tell us about the preparation processes of your projects. What were the most complex or difficult things you had to solve during filming (technically and/or emotionally)?

I always make sure I have the best crew and people that I trust. We're always surrounded by people who are constantly shaping the way that we act. Even if we do not realize it, other people’s behaviors will influence us and by making sure that I have the right crew on board for the project with me will give us a good chance of success.

Working in this industry is fun and worthwhile. I have funny, heartwarming, sad, and stressful stories. The most complex thing was when we had sexual harassment on set. Unfortunately, sexual harassment is common on many film sets, but this was the first time it happened on my set. We had our male Producer tell the offender to stop and that the offensive behavior was unwelcome. We wouldn't let him get close to any female crew and had someone scouting him all the time to avoid inappropriate behavior. A lot of attention has been paid to gender discrimination and sexual harassment in the entertainment industry since the Me Too movement. I hope together we can combat harassment in the entertainment industry and make it a safe workspace.

Are you preparing for the next project? What can you tell us?

Yes, I think as a creative person, I am always preparing for the next project. There are always ideas running through my mind, so it’s a matter of sorting through them and figuring out what I want to see materialized. I currently have a short-film script about epilepsy that I would like to turn into a feature film, and I am also in the middle of writing a romantic comedy - my favorite genre of films. They’re both in the very early stages, but it’s still fun to think about the future for projects like these.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak with you!

We will be attentive to your next work!

Madrid Film Awards I Press Team

madridfilmawards.com

You can find Bruna on her official websites: www.brunacabral.film www.pieceofmefilm.com

https://vimeo.com/388584645

"Piece of Me" Trailer Official

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6xtcQDPF20

"Ham on Rye" Trailer Official

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eSORECWQV4

"Headway" Trailer Official

https://vimeo.com/606911837

"Tales of a Fifth Grade Robin Hood"

Trailer Official

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MxjujvjB9U

"TIVO football" Trailer Official

Exclusive Interview with Julia L. Rosengren

Biography: Julia L. Rosengren is a trailblazer and a fearless entrepreneurial creative. As the middle child of four, she and her siblings grew up living with their parents in poverty in the tiny northern Brazilian town of Timbaúba. When Julia was a young girl, she would walk a couple miles to town each day to pick up the two largest jugs of fresh water that she would carry home, as her loving family’s household had absolutely no electricity or running water. Although times were rough, these very difficult living conditions motivated Julia to desire a better future for herself and family. As an adult, Julia made her mark in the highly competitive world of modeling, which opened the opportunities to visit numerous different countries across the globe. With each new adventure Julia embarked on, she would immerse herself in the country’s culture, and to date she speaks Portuguese, English, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, French, Russian, and Danish. Always reinventing and challenging herself, Julia hosted a London talk show and later signed on as a fashion consultant for the iconic French department store chain, Galeries Lafayette. From there, she enrolled in a master chef class and rose to become an in-demand executive chef for her own catering brand called “Julia’s Cuisine Exotique,” located in the Golden Triangle area of Europe. Despite successes in a broad array of business ventures and explorations, Julia felt like she finally found a home for her soul when she had an opportunity to lean into the world of philanthropy. It was then that she decided to make a direct change in her life by helping to raise money for underprivileged children. Julia's passion willfully took her to the United States, where her love of languages persisted. She enrolled as a student of Russian in the Modern Languages Department at the University of Central Florida, and there, became a part of the academic culture by granting scholarships for deserving students. Julia and her husband also did a lot of joint philanthropy work at the University, helping to build the locker rooms for the UCF football team, as well as the soccer and volleyball teams. Additionally, Julia also helped a non-profit organization in North East Brazil, where together with her friend, Anderson Ribeirao, have created a project called “United Changing Lives” allowing women the opportunity to learn how to become manicurists in order to provide jobs and help them sustain themselves. Official Website: www.juliarosengren.com Ig: @julialrosengren

Most recently, Julia has been working on writing and producing films, where she was the producer on Before Sunrise (2020). Julia’s latest work is her screenwriting and starring debut, LEAVES (2021), a mesmerizing environmental-awareness short film that showcases issues with climate change, global warming, wildfires and deforestation. The movie chronicles the story of an academic-minded woman, played by Julia, discovering an epiphanic connection between herself and an ailing massive red oak tree in her backyard. Threaded through the narrative are ties between the infirm tree, the out-of-control west coast forest fires, and our disappearing rainforests. LEAVES marks the beginning of a creatively fertile and purposeful era for Julia, where her humanitarian interests intersect with her artistic pursuits.

Watch the Trailer! https://juliarosengren.com/projects/leaves/

Mini Biography of the Company: ManoelFerreira Productions, LLC Born during the early ravages of the Covid 19 pandemic with the ambitious idea of making films to send a positive message to the world. Films and special projects already accomplished are: ‘BEFORE SUNRISE‘, an award winning short film, shot in Texas on an iPhone but directed remotely from Brazil, ‘UNIAO GAIA’ a viral music video with contributions from people all over the world, and now LEAVES, the new short film to be released soon. MFP, was created by myself and my husband James Rosengren, in honor of my beloved father, MANOEL FERREIRA. Growing up, he believed so much in me and my dreams when, as a family, we had so little and even less opportunity. Sadly, he is no longer with us, but left behind a beautiful love for the planet, as you see on the logo of MFP. I hope our work can be a positive contribution to the world while also honoring his life and memory. For future projects, some are already in the early writing stages and MFP is always open for positive ideas that send a message.

- First of all, it's a pleasure talking to you!

Let's talk about your most recent work “LEAVES”. How did the idea for this project come about? I have always felt a great closeness with nature and trees in particular. From when I was very small I would hug them, I still do, and it always makes me feel a great sense of peace and communication. I have always had this recurring image in my mind of a woman, maybe it was always me, maybe it was someone else, but it was of this woman becoming one with a tree. That was really where it all began.

- How was the relationship with your team? Well, firstly I took the idea to my friend Paul Davis, who is a writer-director that I had worked with before, and I asked him what the image suggested to him. He had some ideas and then I had some more ideas and before we knew it we had a script and we were shooting in East Texas where we hired a very small local crew. It all came together very quickly.

- Tell us about the origin of the production company (Manoel Ferreira Productions, LLC), what vision and goals does the company have for the future? I come from a very small town in Brazil and we were very poor when I was growing up. Even so, my father always encouraged me to live my dreams. His name was Manoel Ferreira, so I named the company in his honor. Unfortunately, he passed away before seeing it come to be but I know he would share our vision of leaving the planet in a better place after we are gone. That was something very close to his heart and is now both our visión and our goal.

- What can you tell the future viewers, who are reading us, about the film? What things do you want the film to generate in them? Ideally, I would like the film to make them think. It is an environmental film, I suppose, but it doesn’t seek to preach and I don’t pretend to have all the answers. Who does? But I hope it will make people consider that we are part of nature and our environment, not ‘apart’ from it. To me, that carries great responsibilities.

- Tell us about the preparation processes of the film. What were the most complex or difficult things you had to solve during filming (technically and/or emotionally)? There is something I have learned about making films. It is that you are never really dealing with just one film. In fact, there are three. The first is the one you conceive of and write. The next is the one you film and the third is the one you edit in post-production. They are all the same and yet they are all different because the process is always evolving.

For example, on Leaves, the most difficult part was that we knew there would be a certain amount of special effects (SFX) that were critical to the film. So although of course, those elements are there on the page in some form, they are not present when you film, which makes it quite a challenge and demands a lot of preparation to allow for them. This is what I meant by the ‘three films’ you make. The circumstances you face when you actually shoot, be it weather, exterior lighting, or whatever, can necessitate quite a lot of changes to different scenes in the film.

On Leaves, the SFX was quite demanding and took a very long time as we had such a small post-production crew. Most films go through some versión of this. There is a lot of back and forth as some things in the process work well and others do not and have to be changed. That time on Leaves was certainly quite demanding emotionally but well worth it in the end.

For more Julia L. Rosengren´s projects visit the Official Website: www.juliarosengren.com Ig: @julialrosengren – Thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak with you!

We will be attentive to your next works!

Madrid Film Awards I Press Team

madridfilmawards.com

Exclusive Interview with Johanne Chagnon

Biography: For more than thirty years, Johanne Chagnon has adopted a diversified artistic practice that calls on several mediums, in addition to exploring various forms of distribution and various types of presentation venues, often unconventional. More recently, she has turned to art video in which she can bring together her past experiences. Her videos have won several nominations in various festivals around the world. She also writes articles for the Silver Mask Live Festival website (Los Angeles) and is a jury member of the Paris Film Awards. She has been involved for over 15 years in the art magazine ESSE as coordinator and editor. From 2000 to 2017, she also developed Engrenage Noir, an organization which works to support community action art. Last year, she published the monograph «Naviguer malgré tout [Navigate anyway]» which traces her practice from 1986 to 2015.

Official Website: johannechagnon.quebec/

IMDb: https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm12593014

Fb: https://www.facebook.com/johannechagnonartiste

Ig: https://www.instagram.com/johanne_chagnon/

First of all, it's a pleasure talking to you! How has your relationship with cinema been throughout your life? It has been changing? I would first like to point out that I am an interdisciplinary artist from the visual arts community, and have been for more than thirty years. I dedicate myself to video art (also called experimental video). In the beginning, the video served me as a documentation tool, especially for performance art. Little by little, I became interested in this medium, which is interdisciplinary by its essence. In 2017, I set aside all collective activities in the field of community art to do nothing other than my artistic practice. At this pivotal moment, video imposed itself as an opportunity for combining different disciplines (photography, drawing, writing, sculpture, voice, movement). And since I no longer present live performances in front of an audience, I can at least continue that practice in front of a camera.

How would you define your experience as a filmmaker? What things do you think you have found and what things have you lost along the way? I naturally create by experimenting in my studio, alone with my intuitions and obsessions. I manipulate all the elements of my videos: accessories, sets, costumes, lighting, etc., and I embody the characters who evolve in them. In addition, I also do the editing (footage and sound). Like an open channel, I let myself be guided without being bound by realism. The "story" unfolds gradually with the integration of the different components. If I was to deal with a team, even a small one, I would have to structure in advance my process by preparing a strict work schedule, which is not my way of doing things. Which would make me feel less free to experiment. What I have found : * I discovered personal universes that I could not create otherwise. Mastering all the steps of a project has led me to unearth other facets of my interiority and to encounter the dark corners that I carry. * I was able to reach out to new video art networks and meet inspiring people. * I have deepened my knowledge of the history of experimental video and cinema, which fuelled me to push the medium in unexplored ways. What I have lost: * I no longer have direct contact with an audience during exhibitions or performances. And with the pandemic, it’s worse: the viewers of my videos, which are shown online or in festivals where I can't go, are an abstract entity.

What were the first films (or figures) that achieved a high effect on you?

There are many, but I will mention two. Several years ago, I had been impressed by Robert Wiene’s « The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari » (1920). Its dark and twisted visual style conveyed the emotional state of the characters more effectively than realistic locations or conventional design concepts. Later, at the Cinémathèque française in Paris, I saw elements of the real set of this film and I was fascinated by the rustic quality of the materials used which, when transposed to the screen, could thus seem magically transformed. A few years after, the video artist Bill Viola showed me that I should not be afraid to go where my experiments led me, no matter how dark they were (at the time, I was making short humorous videos, for fear of annoying the audience). And as a master of slow motion, he also taught me to be confident and to adapt all the time required by the artwork.

Tell us about the preparation processes of your projects. What were the most complex or difficult things you had to solve during filming (technically and/or emotionally)?

Initially appears an intention that is still unclear. I set up the camera and take a test. Then I print stills from the captured footage and examine them. Two tools come to my aid: writing and drawing. I write freely according to what these images may suggest. This exercise allows me to glimpse possible "narratives", which contribute to enriching the developing universe. I also draw while looking at these pictures. Drawing brings out other types of ideas than those generated by writing. Based on these creative reviews, I go back to the camera and shoot again. The same process is repeated until the final result. However, I do not work in a linear manner, but rather in phases, sometimes successive, sometimes parallel. A draft of editing develops simultaneously. I also outline some sort of storyboard based on the images, in order to give me a visual overview. I constantly place and move them to create a poetically coherent ensemble according to my personal logic. Therefore the video takes shape through an incessant and dynamic dialogue between an idea and its realization. The most complex or difficult things, technically: Becoming friends with the camera, developing confidence in front of the editing software. To overcome this sort of paralysis, I pushed myself to make a short video every day. I ended up producing 200! This challenge enabled me to show more spontaneity and to freely explore various creative avenues. The most complex or difficult things, emotionally: Be more myself, regardless of the outcome. Without thinking about how my work will be perceived.

Are you preparing the next project? What can you tell us?

I am always experimenting and preparing projects, often with several drafts at the same time. This is an ongoing process, with ups and downs, but I persist, always interested in pushing further the characteristics of video graphics language. My immediate goal is to better integrate the disciplines that interest me in the same video project. For example, I began adding watercolor drawings and inserting text fragments, and I intend to better blend these elements in my videos.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak with you!

We will be attentive to your next works!

Johanne Chagnon´s Filmography: Watch the trailers!

2022 FIND RELIEF, color, 4: 59

2021 SCRAGGLINESS, color, 5:00

2021 FASCINATION, color, 4: 47

2020 DISRUPT, color, 2: 00

2020 NATURE FOUND DEAD IN SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCESS, color, 6: 00

2020 A MOMENT OF WHITENESS JUST BEFORE..., color, 5: 56

2020 A WORLD TURNED AROUND, color, 1: 12

2019 A WALK IN THE FOREST, color, 7:39

2018 CARING FOR YOUR CARCASS, color, 11: 11

2018 UNEARTH THE LANDSCAPE, color, 11: 17

2018 AT HE DAWN OF SPEAKING, color, 1:00

You can contact her through the following official means:

Official Website: johannechagnon.quebec/

IMDb: https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm12593014

Fb: https://www.facebook.com/johannechagnonartiste

Ig: https://www.instagram.com/johanne_chagnon/

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Madrid Film Awards I Press Team

madridfilmawards.com