by Jan Galligan & Lillian Mulero
Santa Olaya, PR
Lillian and I watch movies from the perspective of artists. She's a multi-faceted constructivist and I'm a conceptual photographer. We agree that a good story, well told, is fundamental to a successful film. For Lillian, the story must be constructed the way you would build a well-crafted sculpture. For me, the pictures are critical. If the film's structure has not received the necessary attention, the movie becomes disjointed: the story difficult to discern, the plot hard to follow.
Betty Kaplan was born in New York City
and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. She made her directorial debut in
1981 with an independent short film, Neurosis on Wheels, about
traffic problems in the capital city. That film was quickly followed
by an epic, made for Venezuelan television mini-series about the life
of Simon Bolivar. In 1994 she co-wrote and directed Of Love
and Shadows, based on Isabel
Allende's novel, starring Jennifer Connelly and Antonio Banderas in
his first English language role. In 1997 she wrote and directed Doña
Bárbara, based on the Venezuelan novel by Rómulo Gallegos, and
in 2004 won the Peasbody Award for Almost a Woman, the film
version of Esmeralda Santiago's autobiography of life in Puerto Rico
and New York City.
Recently Kaplan directed the Emmy
award-winning One Hot Summer, a story set in the Cuban
community of Miami, but filmed entirely in Puerto Rico. Three years
ago Kaplan moved to San Juan from Hollywood with her partner, film
producer Peter Rawley. Finding “an art, music and literary
community bursting with creativity,” they quickly acquired the
rights to Eduardo Lalo's novel Simone, which had been awarded
the Rómulo Gallegos prize for international literature.
This year Kaplan was selected as juror
for the Competencia Caribena of the 2016 San Juan International Film
Festival. Twelve films, one each from Columbia, Nicaragua, Panama,
Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico, and four
from Puerto Rico competed for this annual award. The other members of
the jury were the film critics Manuel Martinez Maldonado and Pedro
Zervigón. Together, they had seven days in which to see the films in
competition, while trying to view some of the other 33 films
presented in the Muestra del Cine Mundial, a daunting task for even
the most ardent cinephile. “One of the high points of film
festivals,” explains Kaplan, “is there are always films you
cannot see. It's exciting, if sometimes frustrating, but that makes
you choose films and plan your days carefully, while still leaving
room for a surprise or two.” This festival was no exception,
presenting 48 films from 27 countries in six days, making it
impossible to see them all. “The overall quality was consistently
high,” Kaplan says, “and I found a couple of movies that
captivated me with their bold originality and storytelling.”
Betty Kaplan and Manolo Cruz, winner of the Dr. Ricardo E. Alegría Prize in the Competencia Caribeña of the 2016 San Juan International Film Festival
Kaplan has considerable experience
judging films, having served on juries for festivals in Los Angeles,
Huelva, Malaga, Cancun, and recently here in San Juan for the
European film festival of the Alianza Francesa. She says that
festivals can serve as “launchpads” for new films and are
excellent situations in which directors can test audience reaction.
She says that festival juries have a deep respect for filmmakers,
especially for having survived the ordeals and obstacles in getting a
film completed. The standard method for judging films in competition
is to create a tally-sheet and award each film points on a series of
standards: direction, script, acting, cinematography, story-telling
and originality. Kaplan asks these questions when watching and rating
films: Is the story well told? Does the story grab and hold your
attention? Do you have empathy with the characters and their story?
For Kaplan, “Point of view is
everything. The point of view of the director, the point of view of
the cinematographer, and the point of view of the script. We want to
know who tells the story and who is the center of attention. Each
film has a point of view and if not presented clearly, the film
suffers from a serious flaw. The viewpoint can be explicit or
implicit. But, if the public is uneasy, giving close attention to
what is happening and they cannot empathize with a character, then
the story and the film is not working. A common mistake is to try to
describe the story from multiple viewpoints. We might start following
the actions of one character and suddenly we are asked to follow
another character. When the point of view changes suddenly, the
public is unsettled. Not that I'm against disorder. But, it should be
deliberate, carefully crafted and incorporated into the structure,
while functioning as an essential element of the story.”
Asked what advice she would offer
someone starting out in filmmaking, Kaplan says the first thing to do
is to “practice the pitch. Develop the ability to tell your story
to as many people as will listen, even before you begin writing the
script. You should have a very clear idea of the story before you
commit to paper or film. The script is everything. You cannot fix
problems in the script during production or post-production. Future
directors should study acting in order to know the process from the
inside-out. Acting on the stage is a good exercise that all directors
should try.”
Her final suggestion to new directors
regards the completion of the movie. “Before considering your film
finished, use your rough-cut and do a test screening. Show the film
to an audience and observe their reactions. Do not be afraid of
negative criticism. Learn from your mistakes and learn to heed the
audience. They have a point of view that is different from yours and
it's important to listen and learn whether you have reached the
audience, or not.”
Kaplan and Rawley look forward to
beginning production on their adaptation of Simone, set in
Santurce and Rio Piedras, the heart of the city's vibrant art
community – literary, musical, and intensely visual. The sights and
sounds of the city will form the backdrop for their story of one
writer's search as he walks the streets of San Juan, looking for a
mysterious artist who secretly stalks him with pictures and anonymous
messages. With some luck maybe we will witness the premiere of their
movie at the next San Juan International Film Festival.
Note: The winning film for the 2016 Competencia Caribena, was La Cienaga: Between sea and land. Filmed in Columbia, it is Manolo Cruz's first effort at full-length filmmaking. Cruz plays the lead role of Alberto, a 28-year old afflicted with debilitating muscular dystrophy which keeps him locked to his bed when all he wants is to swim in the sea. Besides winning the 2016 Dr. Ricardo E. Alegría Award, the film won awards for acting and directing this year at the Sundance Film Festival.