Peru: Film about San Martín de Porres premieres

“Apariciones” is the title of the new film by Peruvian independent filmmaker Mario Pozzi-Escot, whose narrative revolves around the figure of San Martín de Porres confronted with a chaotic and decadent Lima, where, in order to survive, each man must become his own god. The film will be released this Saturday, October 8 at 7 PM in the Casona Roja at Calle Filiberto Romero 450, San Pedro de los Chorrillos. Reports by WhatsApp at +51 944668137

A SAN MARTIN IN LIMA TODAY

The vision offered by «Apariciones» escapes the purely documentary and the purely fictional. It is an expression of the creativity and cinematographic style of Pozzi-Escot, who uses this ambivalence to insert San Martín de Porres in today’s Lima reality.

This is how we see him confront the chaos of everyday life in downtown Lima, the indifference in the streets and the eternal political crisis that is eating away at our society. This Saint Martin, it goes without saying, is not the saint of holy cards. The San Martín of “Apariciones” has his own life, his own thoughts, and an unstoppable will to defend his freedom of expression and belief. Just like the original saint, but with a different contextualization and projection.

In the film, Martin is played by Zito Zegarra, an Afro-Peruvian musician with whom Pozzi-Escot worked for months in order to achieve the character.

AN EXPERIMENTAL TAPE

However, “Appearances” is not a film that tries to fit into the canon of commercial cinema, both national and foreign, today. His narrative is based, among others, on an innovative editing style that challenges the most visceral emotions and reactions of the viewer. The music, performed by the musician Rafael Otero, bassist in Cuchillazo and guitarist in La Mente, introduces the viewer to the religious trance of San Martín, generating a shared experience. Indeed, as the film postulates, we all have something of San Martín.

WORDS FROM THE DIRECTOR

“Appearances”, audiovisual, urban, magical, realistic symphony; It is a film of search, of re-encounter with the Cinema, it is experimental to the extent that truth prevails over dogma to meet that precious freedom of expression. “Appearances”, my film at a dramaturgical level, at a content and production level, proposes a rupture, merging documentary and fiction, as such, it is an alternative to commercial cinema, to genre cinema, it is an anti-dogmatic production where the language of the camera , the staging, the captured reality, the various levels of performance and musicalization complement each other interacting dramaturgically both at the level of acting, construction of the main character and staging, distancing themselves audiovisually at the level of sound rhythm, image and actions beyond the effects, formulas or resources of the supposedly massive cinema. “Appearances” is a testimony enriched by the reality of the street captured and presented in a crude and direct way where the protagonist Martín de Porres Velázquez presents the truth about himself.

-Mario Pozzi-Escot

Direction, general production, script, camera and photography: Mario Pozzi-Escot

Country: Lima-Peru

Year: 2021

Duration: 1 hour 17 minutes

Genre: Documentary-fiction

Producer: Video memory Mario Pozzi-Escot

With the performance of: Zito Zegarra

Voiceover: Lino Bolaños

Afro-Peruvian percussion: Macario Nicasio

Music: Rafael Otero

Edition: Claudia Rojas

Peru: Film about San Martín de Porres premieres