Still Life with Ghosts [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Enrique Buleo
scheda film], the debut film by Enrique Buleo, a co-production between Spain and Serbia, will be released in Spanish cinemas on 7 February, distributed by Sideral. The director kindly answered our questions.

Cineuropa: This is your feature film debut... How would you introduce yourself to the film industry and to the audience?
Enrique Buleo: As a marginalised filmmaker, interested in the marginalised, and in demystifying this absurd world we live in— all while doing so without pretension and with humour.

Which festivals has the film been to, and what reactions have surprised you the most?
Sitges, Warsaw, Gijón, Abycine, Mostra de València, Rizoma... and it was the extreme reactions that surprised me. In Sitges they were enthusiastic, with applause and cheers. I’d never been to the festival before and I loved how passionate the audience was. In fact, the reviews were so positive that I left there thinking that this could be the beginning of a great career in cinema. The following week I went to the Warsaw film festival and their cold, disinterested reaction put me in my place.

Of all the labels that have been applied to the film, which do you think is the most eccentric, and which is the most accurate?
The one I like the least, without doubt, is “portrait of an empty Spain”, “portrait of rural life.” Why is it that films set in cities are never “about life in the city,” but those set in villages are “about life in the village”? It’s a film that takes place in a village, but it’s not a film about villages. This feels like a rather ridiculous form of urban-centrism. Still Life with Ghosts is about death, loneliness, shame and unfulfilled desires. I'm from a small town, so it's only natural for me that things happen there. And the most apt label came from a festival programmer: “spooky western.” I've always thought that La Mancha has something of the Wild West about it.

Why an episodic film? This format has been used a lot recently...
One of my happiest childhood memories is reading the mystery story anthologies with my mother before bed. I also remember the episodic films I used to watch with my brothers that I loved, like Creepshow. However, there are also less pleasant reasons. I suffer from chronic dissatisfaction, and facing an episodic film or an anthology of stories always reassures me. It makes me think that with it I have more opportunities to fill the gaps than within a film, compared to a single story, where you risk everything. I also tend to struggle connecting with most of the characters, dilemmas, or plots that I usually see in films. I don't usually feel that they are speaking to me or about something that affects me in some way, The idea of having several stories is promising to me.

Was it difficult to make this feature film?
Extremely. In the industry, it was always considered a risky project, plain and simple, because it was an episodic film. Despite the fact that the public is now more accustomed to and more interested in series, fragmented stories, and all kinds of narrative structures, than ever before, an episodic film is still seen as a risk. We encountered more prejudice and conservatism in the industry than from the audience. Those who have seen the film at festivals rarely mention its episodic structure, either to criticise or praise it. However, in some of the development programmes we participated in, and in many of the institutions we approached for funding, there a strong emphasis on the fact that it was an episodic film, as if this alone implied lower quality.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of working with natural actors?
If you do a good job of casting and write the characters taking into account their abilities, it's nothing but advantageous. Of course, you can't expect non-professional actors to improvise or to use different registers, but I'm fascinated by the authenticity and freshness they bring.

In Still Life with Ghosts the performers are all over 50 years old. Are you against ageism?
I don't understand why people don't find older people more interesting than younger people. I don't know what world they live in. Older people tend to be more honest, authentic, wise, and far more fun.