“Apariciones” is the title of the new film by Peruvian independent filmmaker Mario Pozzi-Escot, whose narrative revolves around the figure of St. Martin de Porres confronted with a chaotic and decadent Lima, where, in order to survive, every man must become his own god. The film will be premiered this Saturday, October 8 at 7 PM at Casona Roja in Calle Filiberto Romero 450, San Pedro de los Chorrillos. Information via WhatsApp at +51 944668137

A SAN MARTIN IN TODAY’S LIMA

The vision offered by “Apariciones” escapes the purely documentary and the purely fictional. It is an expression of the creativity and cinematographic style of Pozzi-Escot, who uses this ambivalence to insert St. Martin de Porres in the reality of Lima today.

Thus, we see him confronted with the daily chaos in the centre of Lima, the indifference in the streets and the eternal political crisis that eats away at our society. This St. Martin, needless to say, is not the saint of the holy cards. The Saint Martin of “Apparitions” has a life of his own, his own thoughts, and an unstoppable will to defend his freedom of expression and creed. Just like the original saint, but with a different contextualisation and projection.

In the film, Martin is played by Zito Zegarra, an Afro-Peruvian musician with whom Pozzi-Escot worked for months to create the character.

AN EXPERIMENTAL FILM

Apariciones” is not a film that pretends to fit into the canon of current commercial cinema, both national and foreign. Its narrative is based, among other things, on an innovative editing style that interpellates the viewer’s most visceral emotions and reactions. The musicalisation, carried out by the musician Rafael Otero, bassist in Cuchillazo and guitarist in La Mente, introduces the spectator into San Martín’s religious trance, generating a shared experience. Indeed, as the film postulates, we all have something of San Martín.

WORDS OF THE DIRECTOR

“Apariciones”, an audiovisual symphony, urban, magical, realistic; it is a film of search, of re-encounter with Cinema, it is experimental in the measure in which truth prevails over dogma in the encounter of that precious freedom of expression. “Apariciones”, my film on a dramaturgical level, on a content and production level will be a rupture, merging documentary and fiction, as such, it is an alternative to commercial cinema, to genre cinema, it is an anti-dogmatic production where the language of the camera, the staging, the reality captured, the different levels of the acting and the music, the different levels of the acting and the music, the different levels of the acting, the different levels of the music, the different levels of the acting and the different levels of the music, the different levels of the acting and the different levels of the music, the different levels of acting and musicalisation complement each other, interacting dramaturgically at the level of acting, construction of the main character and staging, distancing itself audiovisually at the level of sound rhythm, image and actions beyond the effects, formulas or resources of the supposedly massive cinema. “Apariciones” is a testimony enriched by the reality of the street captured and presented in a raw and direct way where the protagonist Martín de Porres Velázquez states his truth.

-Mario Pozzi-Escot

Direction, general production, script, camera and photography: Mario Pozzi-Escot

Country: Lima-Peru

Year: 2021

Length: 1hour 17 minutes

Genre: Documentary-fiction

Production company: Videomemoria Mario Pozzi-Escot

Starring: Zito Zegarra

Voice-over: Lino Bolaños

Afro-Peruvian percussion: Macario Nicasio

Music: Rafael Otero

Editing: Claudia Rojas