{"id":1682,"date":"2017-05-08T13:36:58","date_gmt":"2017-05-08T13:36:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/mediatico\/?p=1682"},"modified":"2017-05-08T17:45:04","modified_gmt":"2017-05-08T17:45:04","slug":"interview-with-filmmaker-ludovic-bonleux-entrevista-con-documentarista-ludovic-bonleux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/mediatico\/2017\/05\/08\/interview-with-filmmaker-ludovic-bonleux-entrevista-con-documentarista-ludovic-bonleux\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with filmmaker Ludovic Bonleux\/ Entrevista con documentalista Ludovic Bonleux"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Today Medi<\/em><em>\u00e1tico is delighted to present an<\/em><em>\u00a0interview in English and Spanish with Mexican based French documentary filmmaker Ludovic Bonleux about his three features <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=G_HVxvw9Q9A\">The Crime of Zacar\u00edas Barriento<\/a>s (2007), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vliF29SrMIU\">Remembering Acapulco<\/a> (2013) <em>and<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=yttwq2SP-T0\">Guerrero <\/a>(2017)\u00a0<em>by Medi\u00e1tico contributing editor\u00a0<\/em><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpool.ac.uk\/modern-languages-and-cultures\/staff\/niamh-thornton\/\">Niamh Thornton <\/a>(Reader in Latin American Studies, Liverpool University). Read Thornton&#8217;s blog post giving<\/em><em>\u00a0an overview of Bonleux&#8217;s\u00a0work prompted\u00a0\u00a0by the screening of<\/em>\u00a0Remembering Acapulco<em> and a Q &amp; A session hosted at<\/em><em>\u00a0the University of Liverpool on the 26th January 2017\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/soclas.wordpress.com\/2017\/02\/03\/screening-and-qa-with-film-director-ludovic-bonleux\/\">here<\/a> and Thornton&#8217;s own blog <a href=\"http:\/\/www.niamhthornton.net\">here<\/a>. Thornton&#8217;s\u00a0interview with Bonleux is presented first in English and then in Spanish below\/en Espa\u00f1ol abajo. With thanks to Ludovic Bonleux for all images and trailers.<\/em>[1.\u00a0Thanks to Cornelia Grabner, University of Lancaster, in collaboration with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/languages-and-cultures\/research\/collaborative-research-areas\/poetics-of-resistance\/\">Poetics of Resistance<\/a>, for inviting Ludovic to the UK. His visit in January to Leeds, Lancaster, and Liverpool was supported by the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/languages-and-cultures\/postgraduate\/fees-and-funding\/yves-hervouet-research-fund-for-anglo-french-relations\/\">Yves Hervouet Fund<\/a>. Thanks, also, go to Manuel Moreno Garc\u00eda del Pulgar, University of Liverpool, for carefully editing the Spanish version.]<\/p>\n<p><em>Hoy\u00a0Medi\u00e1tico presenta una entrevista en Ingl\u00e9s y en Espa\u00f1ol con el documentalista franc\u00e9s, radicado en Mexico,\u00a0<\/em><i>Ludovic Bonleux,\u00a0sobre sus tres documentales <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=G_HVxvw9Q9A\">El crimen de Zacar\u00edas Barrientos (2007)<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bing.com\/videos\/search?q=acerdete+de+acapulco+trailer&amp;view=detail&amp;mid=ADF89219CFA736BFC03EADF89219CFA736BFC03E&amp;FORM=VIRE\">Acu\u00e9rdete de Acapulco<\/a> (2013)\u00a0<em>y\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=yttwq2SP-T0\">Guerrero<\/a> (2017) <em>entrevistado por <a href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpool.ac.uk\/modern-languages-and-cultures\/staff\/niamh-thornton\/\">Niamh Thornton<\/a> (Reader in Latin American Studies, Liverpool University), editor contribuyente \u00a0de Medi\u00e1tico. Se puede leer su entrada de blog sobre\u00a0la obra de Bonleux, el\u00a0screeing de<\/em>\u00a0Acu\u00e9rdete de Acapulco <em>y una\u00a0sesi\u00f3n de preguntas y respuestas<\/em><em>\u00a0con Bonleux\u00a0<\/em><i><a href=\"https:\/\/soclas.wordpress.com\/2017\/02\/03\/screening-and-qa-with-film-director-ludovic-bonleux\/\">aqu\u00ed<\/a> y el propio blog de Thornton\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.niamhthornton.net\">aqu\u00ed<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"GUERRERO - TRAILER\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/206780280?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"470\" height=\"264\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>GUERRERO,<\/p>\n<p>una pel\u00edcula de Ludovic Bonleux<\/p>\n<p>2017, 114&#8242;, Bamb\u00fa Audiovisual, Cadalpiotz, Imcine-Foprocine<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;En el estado de GUERRERO, los activistas Coni, Juan y Mario se rebelan ante la impunidad, sin importar los sacrificios y riesgos que sus luchas implican.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;font-size: small\">La pagina FB:<\/span><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/exchange.sussex.ac.uk\/owa\/redir.aspx?C=YGXa5yiG6LzbxM0IPeQYrWLp7NOl_v4i7-WkAq1qRjy-wPQ2oJDUCA..&amp;URL=https%3a%2f%2fwww.facebook.com%2fguerrerofilm%2f\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;font-size: small\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/guerrerofilm\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>BIO<\/p>\n<p>Ludovic Bonleux is a French documentary filmmaker who has made Mexico his home. A historian by training, his films often draw on the past to illuminate the present. He focuses on individuals whose lives have been affected by violence as a result of actions by state and non-state actors. He has directed <em>The Crime of Zacar\u00edas Barrientos<\/em> (2008), a film that traces the legacy of the 1970s Dirty War on a murder in 2003; the web doc <em>US Caravana<\/em> (2012), produced by Carmen Aristegui on the drug-related violence, feminicide, and migration; <em>Remember Acapulco<\/em> (2013), an exploration of the resort city of Acapulco and its people; and he is currently completing <em>Guerrero<\/em>, due for release later in 2017.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/mediatico\/files\/2017\/05\/ACA_05.tif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1701\" src=\"http:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/mediatico\/files\/2017\/05\/ACA_05.tif\" alt=\"\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>NT: For anyone not familiar with your work, how would you describe your style as a documentary filmmaker?<\/p>\n<p>LB: It\u2019s difficult to answer that question because each one of my documentaries is different and I try to explore new ground with every project.\u00a0 <em>The Crime of Zacar\u00edas Barrientos<\/em> (2007) is a historical film that alternates interviews with archival material, <em>Remembering Acapulco <\/em>(2013) is a critical account of the dark side of the resort city and <em>Guerrero <\/em>(2017) is a journey deep into the world of the activists from Guerrero. These three documentaries were filmed in the Mexican state of Guerrero, but I have also filmed in the US:<em> US Caravana<\/em> (2012), a film denouncing the war on drugs (available online at <a href=\"http:\/\/uscaravana.com\/\">uscaravana.com<\/a>). The common theme in all of my work is human rights and condemning the violation of those rights.<\/p>\n<p>NT: What is it like to be a director of documentaries in Mexico?<\/p>\n<p>LB: Much as it is in the rest of the world, the production context for documentary\u00a0making in Mexico can be complicated. It is clearly much cheaper to make films now thanks to the availability of affordable good quality cameras. However, skilled crew (producers, directors of photography, sound recordists, editors, post-production technicians, etc.) are expensive. I have the advantage of being able to apply for Mexican and French finance. So, my first film, <em>The Crime of Zacar\u00edas Barrientos<\/em> was entirely produced with French finance, thanks to funds from the Centre National de la Cin\u00e9matographie (CNC, the French national film fund) and a local television channel, Images Plus. My second documentary <em>Remembering Acapulco <\/em>was made on a micro budget. I was lucky to get backing from a French producer called Novanima (technical support with a camera and some expenses for development and distribution) and from a Mexican producer Terra Nostra Films (with editing, post-production visual effects, and distribution). For the most part, I self-funded the film. I travelled to Acapulco to shoot it in my free time and edited it at home in Mexico City. I was lucky to get help from the Instituto Mexicano de Cinematograf\u00eda (IMCINE) for my third documentary, <em>Guerrero<\/em>, that\u2019s currently in post-production. This has meant that I have been able to earn a wage as a director and work with a lot of skilled crew. This last film has had no French financing, although I have applied to several funds.<\/p>\n<p>NT: What are the specific ethical questions for a documentary maker, like you, who makes films against the backdrop of the current violence in Mexico?<\/p>\n<p>LB: In my opinion, ethics are integral to all elements of documentary making. These ethics reside in two axes: do not lie to the audience (that is, do not lie about the facts) and, consequently, stick as closely as possible to the experiences of the protagonists of the documentary. The second is to respect the dignity of the people I film. With respect to this second point, you have to be very careful because a documentary can destroy someone\u2019s reputation and very few people deserve that.\u00a0 You have to be very careful with regards to how you show violence on screen, because violence is omnipresent in certain parts of Mexico and it\u2019s used by cartels and, sometimes, by the government to terrorize the population. Some documentary makers decide not to show bodies or blood out of respect for the dead and their families. They also avoid it so as not to participate in the \u201cspectacularization\u201d of violence fomented by mass media and criminals. That being said, sometimes, I show [dead] bodies (in all three of the films shot in Guerrero) because these bodies are part of everyday reality for the people there. Bodies are not hidden and they demonstrate the violent climate in which the locals are living. However, these images must be chosen very carefully and not given too much time on screen. For example, with <em>Remembering Acapulco<\/em> there is a dead body at the beginning of the documentary to \u201cset the scene\u201d, to show the context of the drug violence and, after that violence (Acapulco is one of the most violent cities in the world at the moment) takes place off-screen (through sound, in conversation, in celebrations, in situations like Spring Break, or in photographs). It renders it unnecessary to show it repeatedly on screen, but we know that it\u2019s there. In <em>Guerrero<\/em> several violent episodes are shown. Working with the editor, we decided that one moment was too difficult to show for any length: a mother mourning at her son\u2019s burial. The audio was much more violent. It leaves the audience much more uncomfortable [to hear her] while watching the face of her dead son behind the glass front of the coffin.<\/p>\n<p>NT: Your films tackle challenging themes that confront current Mexican reality and draw from the recent past. What are the biggest challenges for you in completing these projects?<\/p>\n<p>LB: In general I try to make work that address the following four areas: denouncing the violation of human rights; recording the struggle of those fighting for justice; by shining a mirror up to them in my documentaries, providing a space for those people to reflect on their practices; and, obviously, make quality films [\u2026] I make films conscious that those who are in them will see them (people from Guerrero in general), that they will be seen by people in Mexico and around the world who are interested in human rights and in cinema itself.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Entrevista<\/p>\n<p>BIO<\/p>\n<p>Ludovic Bonleux es un director de documentales franc\u00e9s que ahora reside en M\u00e9xico. Historiador de formaci\u00f3n, sus pel\u00edculas retoman el pasado para esclarecer el presente. Se centra en las vidas de la gente afectadas por la violencia, ya provenga esta del propio estado o de individuos o entes particulares. Entre otros, ha dirigido El crimen de Zacar\u00edas Barrientos (2008), una pel\u00edcula que rastrea el legado de la guerra sucia de los a\u00f1os setenta en un asesinato en 2003; un documental en l\u00ednea, US Caravana (2012), producido por Carmen Aristegui que trata de la narco-violencia, el feminicidio y la migraci\u00f3n; Acu\u00e9rdate de Acapulco (2013), un examen e investigaci\u00f3n a la ciudad de Acapulco y su gente; actualmente est\u00e1 en la fase de posproducci\u00f3n de Guerrero, que se espera estrenar en 2017.<\/p>\n<p>NT: Para aquellos que a\u00fan no hayan tenido la oportunidad de ver sus pel\u00edculas \u00bfc\u00f3mo describir\u00eda el estilo de documental que usted hace?<\/p>\n<p>LB: Es bastante dif\u00edcil contestar a esta pregunta porque mis documentales son todos diferentes e intento, en cada uno, explorar nuevos caminos.\u00a0As\u00ed: El Crimen de Zacar\u00edas Barrientos (2007) es m\u00e1s un filme hist\u00f3rico, que alterna entrevistas y archivo audiovisual; Acu\u00e9rdate de Acapulco es un cuento corrosivo del lado oscuro de la\u00a0ciudad balnearia y, el tercero, Guerrero es un viaje a lo m\u00e1s profundo del mundo de los activistas de la regi\u00f3n de Guerrero, las tres filmadas en el estado mexicano de Guerrero; pero tambi\u00e9n he filmado en Estados Unidos: La caravana por la paz con dignidad y justicia, que recorre este pa\u00eds denunciando la guerra contra las drogas en 2012 (est\u00e1 disponible en la web: US Caravana \u00a0[uscaravana.com]).\u00a0Sin embargo, el tema com\u00fan que vertebra todo mi trabajo tiene que ver con los derechos humanos y con la denuncia de los atropellos a esos derechos humanos.<\/p>\n<p>NT: \u00bfC\u00f3mo es ser director de documentales en M\u00e9xico?<\/p>\n<p>LB: Como en todo el mundo. Hacer documentales en M\u00e9xico puede resultar complicado en t\u00e9rminos de producci\u00f3n. Es claro que hoy en d\u00eda tenemos opciones muy econ\u00f3micas para poder filmar, gracias a la buena calidad de las c\u00e1maras y su costo asequible. Sin embargo, rodearse de gente competente (productores, directores de fotograf\u00eda, sonidistas, editores, post-productores etc\u00e9tera) cuesta dinero. Mi caso es particular y cuento con algunas ventajas, tengo la posibilidad solicitar financiaci\u00f3n en M\u00e9xico y Francia. As\u00ed, mi primer documental, El crimen de Zacar\u00edas Barrientos, se produjo integralmente en Francia gracias a la ayuda econ\u00f3mica del Centre National de la Cin\u00e9matographie (CNC, el instituto de apoyo al cine de Francia) y de la cadena de televisi\u00f3n local Images Plus. Mi segundo documental, Acu\u00e9rdate de Acapulco, se realiz\u00f3 con muy poca financiaci\u00f3n. Tuve la suerte de tener el apoyo de una productora francesa, llamada Novanima (apoyo t\u00e9cnico con una c\u00e1mara, y algunos gastos de desarrollo y de difusi\u00f3n), y de la productora mexicana Terra Nostra Films (con la edici\u00f3n, la post-producci\u00f3n de imagen y la difusi\u00f3n). Sin embargo, est\u00e1 pel\u00edcula la coste\u00e9, en gran parte, yo mismo, cuando ten\u00eda tiempo libre iba a Acapulco a filmar y luego regresaba a la ciudad de M\u00e9xico para editarla. Para mi tercer documental, Guerrero (2017), que est\u00e1 actualmente en postproducci\u00f3n, tuve la suerte de tener el apoyo de Instituto Mexicano de Cinematograf\u00eda (IMCINE), lo que me permiti\u00f3 tener un sueldo de director y poder trabajar con mucha gente competente. Para esta pel\u00edcula no tuve apoyos franceses a pesar de haber solicitado financiaci\u00f3n a alguna fundaci\u00f3n.<\/p>\n<p>NT: \u00bfCu\u00e1les son las cuestiones \u00e9ticas espec\u00edficas para un documentalista, como usted, que filma en el contexto de la violencia actual en M\u00e9xico?<\/p>\n<p>LB: Para m\u00ed, la \u00e9tica es la base del trabajo del documentalista. Esta \u00e9tica se estructura sobre dos ejes: el primero, no mentir al p\u00fablico (es decir no mentir sobre los hechos) y, por tanto, tratar de quedarse lo m\u00e1s cerca de las experiencias de los protagonistas del documental. El segundo es respetar la dignidad de la gente que filmo. En este sentido hay que tener mucho cuidado porque un documental puede destruir la imagen de una persona y muy poca gente se merece eso. Con respeto a la violencia en la pantalla, violencia que es omnipresente en ciertas zonas de M\u00e9xico y que est\u00e1 usada por los carteles y a veces el gobierno para aterrorizar a la poblaci\u00f3n, hay que tener mucho cuidado. Ciertos directores de documentales deciden no ense\u00f1ar cuerpos ni sangre, por respeto a los difuntos y sus familias. Tambi\u00e9n evitan ese mostraci\u00f3n para no participar en la &#8220;espectularizaci\u00f3n\u201d de la violencia, fomentada por los medios masivos y los mismos delincuentes. No obstante, yo ense\u00f1o a veces cuerpos (caso de mis tres documentales filmados en Guerrero), porque esos cuerpos son partes de la realidad de la gente, no est\u00e1n escondidos y ense\u00f1an el clima de violencia en el que vive la gente. Sin embargo, esas im\u00e1genes tienen que ser elegidas con mucho cuidado y no exponerlas durante mucho tiempo en pantalla. En el caso de \u00a0Acu\u00e9rdate de Acapulco, puse al principio del documental un muerto, para &#8220;plantear el decorado\u201d, para ense\u00f1ar el contexto de la narcoguerra y, despu\u00e9s de eso, la violencia (Acapulco es una de \u00a0las ciudades m\u00e1s violentas en el mundo hoy en d\u00eda) se queda fuera de pantalla (en el sonido, en los discursos, en celebraciones, en situaciones como el springbreak o en fotograf\u00edas). Ya no es necesaria verla tanto, sabemos que est\u00e1 ah\u00ed. En el caso de Guerrero, se ven varios episodios violentos, pero el momento m\u00e1s duro, que tuvimos que reducir con el editor, porque era insostenible, fue el llanto de una madre en el entierro de su hijo. En este momento, el audio era mucho m\u00e1s violento, dejaba al espectador mucho m\u00e1s incomodo, que la cara del muerto mismo que se percibe detr\u00e1s del cristal del ata\u00fad.<\/p>\n<p>NT: Usted se centra en temas dif\u00edciles que tratan de la actualidad mexicana y del pasado reciente, \u00bfcu\u00e1les son los retos mayores para\u00a0usted en realizar sus proyectos?<\/p>\n<p>LB: En general trato de trabajar cuatro puntos: denunciar los atropellos a los derechos humanos, registrar el combate de la gente que lucha por la justicia, permitir a esta gente analizar sus pr\u00e1cticas gracias al espejo de mis documentales y, por supuesto, hacer obras cinematogr\u00e1ficas\u2026 Hago mis pel\u00edculas con la idea de que las vean tanto la gente que film\u00e9 (la gente en Guerrero en general), la gente de M\u00e9xico, y del mundo en general, interesada tanto en los derechos humanos como en el cine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today Medi\u00e1tico is delighted to present an\u00a0interview in English and Spanish with Mexican based French documentary filmmaker Ludovic Bonleux about&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":1684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[200,2],"tags":[201,32,199,198,39,202],"class_list":["post-1682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-documentary","category-film","tag-acuerdete-de-acapulco","tag-documentary","tag-guerrero","tag-ludovic-bonleux","tag-mexico","tag-the-crime-of-zaharias-barrientos"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/mediatico\/files\/2017\/04\/Acapulco_cartel2_es.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p49QSj-r8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/mediatico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/mediatico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/mediatico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/mediatico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/mediatico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1682"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/mediatico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1710,"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/mediatico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1682\/revisions\/1710"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/mediatico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/mediatico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/mediatico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/mediatico\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}