How would you introduce ‘Horizontal’ to us?

Without giving too much away, I would say it’s a film that uses genre elements to depict the relationship between adults and children, where the usual verticality of that relationship is called into question.

What message do you want to convey?

Each project contains a mystery for me that sets things in motion; I think I rather ask myself what message the film wants to convey to me. Sometimes, I don’t understand a film I’ve made until years later, and even then, its meaning keeps evolving for me, as if it has a life of its own.
That said, I can discuss the themes that lingered in my mind while writing. On one hand, I reflected on how our parents grow older, and how the caregiving relationship gradually reverses. On the other, I considered the mysterious wisdom of children—individuals just like anyone else but without the power to decide how their time is spent or how the world around them is shaped. They live in a world not built to their measure, affected directly by decisions over which they have no agency.

How has the process of creating the short film been?

Intense and difficult, but very enriching! We worked with a budget from the world of video art, meaning it was far too small to create fiction… so we made it with very limited resources.

Besides that, before and during filming, a lot happened. Billie –the protagonist– sprained her ankle days before we started shooting, and we had to reschedule everything in a hurry. Alicia Reginato, the producer who had accompanied the project up until then, couldn’t be there, and I worked with a team I didn’t know until then, which, at first, was quite intimidating. But it was a privilege working with them. Flor de Múgica, Artur Pol Camprubí, Luca Rullo, and Alejandra Frechero did a patient and beautiful job, they gave it their all, and thanks to them, the film was completed successfully. Later, there were also happy encounters, such as with Leire Apellaniz and Claudia Salcedo, who joined the team when the film was already in the editing phase.

What does it mean for you to participate in ZINEBI?

I come from Fine Arts, and I’ve participated in festivals before, but always in the experimental section. For me, taking part in ZINEBI means my debut in the world of more narrative cinema, so to speak, and I’m really excited about it.

What do you expect from your presence there?

I hope to be able to see the film from another perspective through conversations with the audience or other filmmakers. I’m also really looking forward to watching the other short films and meeting their directors.

You’ll also be present in Gijón. What kind of journey do you expect the short film to have?

We are really happy that ZINEBI and FICX have decided to share the premiere. After that, we hope the short film will continue its journey at other festivals across the country and that it finds an international premiere. This will be the first time we show it to the public.

What other projects do you have in the works?

I’m starting to sketch out ideas for a feature film alongside Theo Livesey. In the meantime, I’m looking for funding to shoot the second part of ‘Segunda persona, tercera persona’, a film about the intersection of bureaucracy and narrative in asylum processes in France. I’m also working on a project focusing on questions posed by journalists during press conferences held by the US State Department this past year, in relation to the genocide in Palestine.