He barely keeps a few photographs, a few letters and the changing memories that his grandparents have given him. Carla Simón was orphaned when she was a child and with that scarce material and quite a lot of imagination she has shot the short film Letter to my mother for my son, with whom she wants to prevent history from repeating itself and make sure that little Manel, only two months old, "have a memory of your family that will accompany you throughout your life".
"I know few things about my mother, but I want my son to know his grandmother, that is why I have created this story for Manel", explains Simón during his stay at the Venice Film Festival where he presented out of competition Letter to my mother for me son in the Giornate degli Autori section, within the Miu Miu cycle. Women's Tales.
Lole and Manuel's song Erase a white butterfly sews this 24-minute short film: "I've been looking for things about my mother and I found out that once she wrote to a friend and told her that she was listening to a song by Lole and Manuel, fact that he liked them a lot. I have chosen this theme because it is a lullaby and it has served as a common thread to articulate the legacy that I want to leave Manel from day one".
From among that little material that survived his parents, Simón has also rescued some photographs of his naked and pregnant mother and has recreated them showing the nudity of her own pregnancy with super 8 film, "which is typical of family life and It makes images very valuable". In addition, the director of Alcarràs has included a moment of childbirth, "only 10 seconds", and has incorporated members of her family, of Manel's family, into the film singing some little bits Erase a white butterfly.
Simón undresses himself physically and emotionally in Letter to my mother for my son, but it has not been a complex process. "Everything was very natural, when I do something so personal I don't think about the viewer, because otherwise I wouldn't. I just wanted to talk about my pregnancy and it seemed to me that a short film was ideal to express something so immediate, since it is comparable to painting a painting or write a letter," he explains.
But behind those few memories there is not much more, so the filmmaker has used imagination, "which is the resource to create your identity from the lack of memory", and has invented a story of what her mother was like, what she would be like now And what would the two talk about if they met. That unknown mother would have the face of Ángela Molina. "I thought of Ángela from the first moment, because I admire her a lot. We met at a gala and she told me that she had seen Estiu 1993 and that she would love us to work together. I called her for the short film and she did not hesitate, she came from Mexico where I was shooting a movie."
In that Estiu 1997 (2017), his debut feature, Simón recounts the death of his parents due to AIDS and his first moments with his new family. In Alcarràs, which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Festival last February, the director addresses the life of growing fruit, which she knew in her childhood with her uncles. And now she is preparing a new feature film that is also based on her personal experiences. "I know that one day I will do science fiction, but now I have the need to talk about my family because of my lack of history."
But Simon is already writing his own story. To that newly arrived son and that unforgettable Golden Bear has been added a preselection for the Oscars. Carla does not hide her happiness: "I am very cautious, but I admit that I am excited, now, after Berlin, it makes sense and I would love to make that race to the Oscars", concludes the director.
