The Social Film Workshops that have been taking place in different La Laguna neighborhoods They bring residents closer to the possibility of living the experience of being part of a film project created and starring themselves, and in their own neighborhoods. But, in addition, they represent a “very nice intergenerational experience” and “the most important thing of all is coexistence, demonstrating that collectively we can tell things and create spaces for debate, reflection, do collective writing work and among ourselves discuss to give life to those characters and tell something”.
This is how Raúl Jiménez, filmmaker and organizer of these neighborhood workshops, promoted by the Department of Citizen Participation of the City of La Laguna and in which he coordinates and guides the participants to unite ideas and that there is a process of collective writing of the story that is to be told, in addition to audiovisual production.
These workshops have just finished their second edition, specifically in the neighborhoods of San Luis Gonzaga, La Candelaria and El Ortigal, and from whose joint work between residents and groups in the area has come out the film entitled My name is Francois, released recently at TEA .
The three centers began the process with the coordination and collective writing of the script, at the same time that the production plan and the selection processes of the characters among the participants were established.
My name is Francois is a feature film that mixes fiction and inspiration with some real events, such as pieces of the story of an immigrant boy who, when he turns 18, finds that he has to leave the juvenile center where he was, without papers and in a situation of helplessness But he also talks about “poverty, integration, machismo, the struggle of the LGTBI collective, uncertainty,” says Raúl Jiménez.
“We have had a very good quarry, very well worked characters. And the music is also his own, composed by Eduardo Melián, who is a collaborator of the workshops”, he highlights.
The film was screened last Friday at the Bajamar Citizen Center, this afternoon it will be in San Diego, at 7:00 p.m., and next Friday at Finca España, at 8:15 p.m. Precisely in the three neighborhoods where the third edition of these workshops will take place, so that residents can see the resulting work and are encouraged to participate.
Raúl Jiménez recalls that registration is now open. The workshops will begin in the middle of next month and will last until May 27, 2023, taking place one day a week, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Inscription
Neighbors interested in registering can do so by sending an email to participacionciudadana@lalaguna.es, in which they indicate their name and surname, a contact telephone number and the citizen center in which they are interested in participating.
“It is necessary to make films from here because the local industry is practically non-existent from the cinematographic point of view. What I like is that things are told by people here, in a participatory way, because it is the cinema that people will see in a hundred years, even if it is a minor project. It is the cinema that will age well”, assesses Raúl Jiménez.
