Father & Daughter Film Report



INTERVIEW

with

Romina Schwedler

Writer, Director, Producer, Singer (Soprano), Dancer, Actress...(well, we could go on & on, however our focus is on her latest film):


THE VISIT

* * * * *

(As you know, when we cover a film festival, we also like to mention a few of the films we thought were exceptional...this is one.  Describing the plot or sequence of a short film is very difficult, for you practically have give the story away, and we don't want to spoil it for anyone.  What we can say is that nearly every aspect of film making - the writing, acting, cinematography, the direction, etc. - this film is simply excellent).


Originally from Argentina and now working out of New York, without even going over her extensive resume one can probably assume just from that you are in for some very exotic artistic expression.

Speaking of resumes, with places like Juilliard & School of American Ballet along with other institutions of training that reads like a who's who in artistic education, and a credits list that would take up this entire article (well, OK, there's Boardwalk Empire & Blue Bloods to name drop a few), it just seems quite natural that when Ms. Schwedler finally got on the other side of the camera some really great things are going to happen. 

We ran into Romina at the San Antonio Film Festival (watch for the report on that soon) and was able to get a few questions about her latest work,

THE VISIT.


Romina Schwedler on one of her many red carpets


 

When did you become interested in working with films? 

I became interested in making films accidentally actually. In 2014 I had an idea for a commercial that I thought would be fun to include on my acting reel. I mentioned the idea to a friend who agreed to shoot it, so I went ahead and wrote it, found the locations, cast it, and not exactly conscious that that´s what I was doing, I directed it! 

With the footage in the can, I then asked my boyfriend if he would like to edit it. He replied that instead, he would teach me to use his editing program. So I also ended up editing the footage. A process I absolutely loved.

When I finished, I experienced for the first time that amazing feeling of having an idea that pops into your mind turned into a tangible piece of work. And I loved that feeling!

The piece was a nice addition to my reel but the most important thing that came out of the project was the discovery of how much I loved every step of the filmmaking process. I knew right away that I wanted to do it again!    




In the role of producer & director, Romina tweaks a few elements in her latest film.




What gave you the idea to do your film?


The idea for The Visit came from a phone conversation with my father, where he shared with me that my great aunt, at the time 102 years old, kept telling him about this alleged party she needed to get ready for, where she would see her parents, sister, etc.

She did not have Alzheimer’s disease or dementia other than with this specific subject. Her brain evidently used this mechanism to help her cope with loss, of which she had experienced a great deal due to her advanced age.

 This mechanism caught my attention right away and I just couldn’t stop thinking about the curious ways of the human mind. A subject that has always fascinated me. During that thought process, an idea came to me which would lead to writing The Visit.




Click on the image above to see the trailer



How did you come up with the title?


The title actually came to me right away. No other title fully embodies the spirit and meanings of this story. In fact, at one point I thought of changing it when M. Night Shyamalan’s feature with the same name came out. But after many sleepless nights of brainstorming and never-ending lists of possibilities, I concluded that The Visit was the perfect title and moved on to something else!


Besides money, what was the most difficult thing you had to deal with in pro​ducing this film? Either filming-wise, organizational-wise, business-wise, editing, etc....?


The most difficult thing was the post-production. At one point I honestly thought I would never get out of it.

I had supposedly finished editing and had moved on to music, color and sound design. After this, something dawned on me about the story and I realized that I could cut the film from 21:20 min to 12:30! So while everyone agreed that this was a very positive change for the film, it was a painful process to make all the adjustments at that point.

Luckily, the professionals I worked with were extremely supportive and I couldn’t be happier with the end product. But I did learn my lesson about what “final cut” should mean!




Cast & crew of THE VISIT (from left to right): Sean Maher (Firefly, The Mentalist, Warehouse 13), Academy Award & Golden Globe nominee June Squibb, Dominick Coniglio (Limitless), Sadie Katz (Wrong Turn 6), Producer & Director Romina Schwedler, Producer & Cinematographer Alain J. Carmona, and Producer Ruben Rodas.


What did you learn about yourself personally by creating/running this festival/film?

 

That I could go weeks without sleep! Haha!

Well, besides that, I was confronted with how obsessive I really am! And I learned that sometimes you need to just let go and move on, because getting shot A completely perfect but not getting shot B does´t work. So I learned to prioritize. 

What advice can you give others who wish to make a film?

You have to love the process of filmmaking and be willing and able to work on your project 24/7.

The other thing I would suggest is to do as much pre-production as humanly possible.

This is not a very original piece of advise but there’s a reason for that. The better prepared you are, the fewer chances for unexpected chaos and drama, and the better you will be able to concentrate on what’s important, like having your mind as available as possible to be creative.


What have you done to get your film ‘out there’?


So far I have only been submitting it to film festivals. After we’re done with the festival circuit I will entertain distribution offers, look into VOD, etc.

Right now my team and I have been loving a very rewarding run and it’s been an honor and a huge treat to be able to attend most of the festivals we’ve been selected for, meeting wonderful people and seeing firsthand how the film impacts different audiences.



- Father/Daughter Film Report (David & Amanda)