BERLIN (Reuters) – Mexican film director Fernando Empke said that the film “The Flies,” which is in competition at the Berlin Film Festival, is a story about how openness to others can allow for something special.
“It’s a story about loneliness and sadness and how to connect with others,” he told Reuters before the premiere.
The film compares it to opening a window to let a fly buzz around your house — and inadvertently letting something positive in.
“When there is a fly in your house, when you open the windows, something special will happen,” Empke said.
Filmed in Eimbcke’s second black-and-white film to compete for the festival’s top prize, Eimbcke begins with Olga, played by Teresita Sanchez, trying to rid her Mexico City apartment of a pesky fly.
Facing an unexpected and expensive medical procedure, Olga is forced to rent out her spare room to a stranger who is smuggling in his young son, Christian. Olga’s stable and routine life is soon interrupted, and she is forced to adapt to the presence of a child.
The film “The Flies” is among 22 films competing for the festival’s grand Golden Bear award, which will be awarded at the closing ceremony on Saturday evening.
Empke said that Mexican cinema is getting stronger, pointing to increased funding and the success of director Guillermo del Toro.
“There are also Mexican films in all sections of the Berlinale, and more Mexican films will certainly come to the major festivals,” he added.
Working with a child actor
For “Flies,” Empke said working with a child actor, Bastian Escobar, adjusted to the way he directed the story he also co-wrote.
“He taught me how to direct. I adapted to Bastian. My job was just to watch,” said the director, who first came to the festival two decades ago with the Berlin Talent Network programme.
For Bastian, the experience was “really amazing.”
He told Reuters: “I had a lot of energy in those moments when I was acting, when the camera was in front of me and I was talking and moving.”
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