24/10/2024 - The actress, who is making her feature film directing debut, comments on her debut feature film, which she also stars in, such as the laboriousness of post-production and its creation

(© Seminci)

Actress Marta Nieto makes her feature film directorial debut with Becoming Ana [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marta Nieto
film profile], which she stars in and co-wrote with Beatriz Herzog, and with which she competes in the 69th Seminci - Valladolid International Film Week.

Cineuropa: How do you find interviews not only as an actress, but also as a director?
Marta Nieto: Good. I get to see if the film was liked or not.

Where did you shoot the film from? From the guts, the brain or the heart?
The key driver has been the soul. I had the need to tell something. Then at the Spanish Film Academy Residencies I developed an idea and then María Zamora, the film’s producer, came along. Everything came together organically. But the drive was not to direct or to premiere at the Seminci, but to tell a story that I wanted to tell.

Like your character in the film, did you too need to see the world through different eyes, to step out of your exclusive role as a mother and regain your freedom?
Motherhood is a beautiful and, at the same time, dangerous place. You can hide there your whole life and everyone thinks that this is normal, because you’re doing something that is very good, such as raising your child. But, you forget a lot of things that also give you health and joy, without you or anyone around you noticing it if they don't want to see it. And that is an exercise that I myself had to do and that is told in Becoming Ana. When you come out of certain beliefs that trap you in order to see things from another place. That journey is one I had to make in order to direct the film: conquering another way of thinking and understanding this world.

What has directing your first feature film taught you? Did you discover anything?
Post-production. It's a lot! Three months of work! Directing is about making many decisions, all important ones, as clearly as possible. I’ve been lucky to be surrounded by people who know more than I do, have helped me a lot and have let me do what I wanted to do. But post-production is many hours, stuck in a studio, where you have to really listen when you're in the sound phase, really look when you're in the colour phase. It's a whole world.

You looked for French actors to take part in it.
Yes, at the Les Arcs Film Festival I spoke to Roman Duris, who read the script, but couldn't shoot it. Then Vincent Macaigne, but in the end he couldn't do it either. Luckily Nahuel Pérez Biscayart could. I knew he was an incredible actor, but I wasn’t aware that he was an extraordinary being.

In another recent film festival, in Malaga, you participated as a jury member; now you are the one being judged here. How does it feel to be on the other side?
I lower my expectations. It's nice to be here and it's beautiful to compete. But it's a game and if it serves to support the film, great, and if not, so be it.

Are you going to direct again or do you have to put this birth on hold to decide whether to have another film baby?
Yes, I will take a break, because I am also an actress. Until I have a story that I want to tell and that makes sense to me, where I can put all my strength into it, because it's a lot of work to direct. I already knew that, but it is surprising how much physical time you have to invest beyond the ideas, the days you have to dedicate to make sure that all the processes end up as well as possible.

When Becoming Ana was only a project, you participated with it in the Spanish Film Academy Residencies. Did it help you create your film?
It’s a place guided by Inés Enciso, who is at your service, with the structure of the Academy, for everything the film needs to grow, from a script course, to contacting a casting director or working with the actors. You have strong support there: a real luxury. There are also synergies between colleagues and you can ask for it and they will give it to you. For example, if you need to know how to produce or learn how to shoot.

(Translated from Spanish by Vicky York)