28/03/2014 - Beatriz Sanchís is the only woman in competition in the official selection of the Malaga Festival, with her debut Todos están muertos – a modern tale, magic and psychological

Recently returned from Mexico, where she finished editing and audio mixing for her film in competition at the Malaga Festival, Beatriz Sanchís, 37, has already overcome the difficult challenge of presenting her film, Todos están muertos [+see also:
trailer
interview: Beatriz Sanchís
film profile], in front of a divided press corps.

Cineuropa: Are you used to festivals, having gone to Berlin previously with your short?
Beatriz Sanchís: I am relaxed, but nervous about the reactions my film might provoke, because I reveal myself a great deal. I worked on this for a long time and, obviously, I find the ways people react important.

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Avalon has always supported you…
Yes, we have a life together, starting with short La clase. It is a very interesting production and distribution house: we believe in the vision of the other. With them, I have all the creative freedom in the world: I am lucky. The budget was of €1.6 million. In Germany, we worked on image post-production.

Why did you decide to use such a risky format to tell this story?
I really like tales: they have many meanings, whether psychoanalytical, of the unconscious or social. Because of this, the vision Mexicans have of death was useful for me in order to tell the story of this conflict.

But how do you obtain this kind of storytelling tone?
For me, it is easier than any other type of cinema: it is my natural habitat. I am at home in this kind of universe. I feel a little like a child: in a kind of innocence, a bit like someone stopping to look at the sun shining through a window… I am that kind of woman. I identify with childhood and its purity. I am like that, and I share my point of view with others.

How was the film born?
Something similar happened to me than happened to Lupe, the character played by Elena Anaya: when I was very young, my best friend died, and that marked me, because I was not able to say goodbye. The screenplay was born from imagining what it would be like to be able to do so. When I write, I feed from my own experiences.  

Music takes up a great deal of space in the film.
I am a total music fan, all genres and time periods. That comes from my character, my interests and curiosity. Music is my passion: my big regret is not having been a part of a band.

You avoided special effects; instead, you use symbolism…
Yes, because I am not interested in them. I like what is handmade. I think magic can exist without using special effects. It is unusual, but I work like this. I like Michel Gondry: he works in a more ingenious way. The team is made up of friends and you can tell in the film. The most painful thing was filming everything so fast, in just five weeks.

In your film, women are almost every aspect of the boy’s life.
Lupe as a character finds himself at an impasse in his life and his grandmother needs to take care of her daughter and grandson. I talk about dreams like traumas, which stop people from being able to move forward: when you confront them, they disappear. I also speak about the monster of fear, which keeps Lupe trapped at home.  

(Translated from Spanish)