It’s the third Monday of March, which means its BFF Movie Monday. This month’s screening features Luis Prieto’s documentary, The Disunited States of America, at Skylight Cinema. The documentary looks at the events leading up to the 2016 Presidential Election, as the media bombards Americans with sensationalist stories about the nominees, stoking fear and adversity. The Disunited States of America is a cinema verité film that explores the hearts and minds of real Americans who have placed their hopes and dreams in their anticipated future president.
Prieto, a native of Madrid, Spain but currently lives in San Francisco, says he was interested in the Clinton/Trump election because of his life in the United States, but particularly interested in the unfamiliar parts of the US.
“Even though I’m from Madrid, I came to the US for film school in my 20’s and went to the California Institute of the Arts. From then on, I lived in the states for years, so I knew the country, but I only knew the west coast and east coast, so I wanted to make a documentary of the places that weren’t coastal.”
The documentary is a step out away from Prieto’s filmmaking background. With a history in narrative fiction, he feels that the storytelling of his documentary has a different sensation than the rest of his filmography.
“I usually film narrative films and not documentaries, but with Disunited States of America, I filmed this documentary like a narrative film. So, I filmed these people with a unique story-line and the documentary almost feels like any other narrative film you would watch.”
Even though the film focuses on the Clinton/Trump election, Prieto doesn’t feel like the documentary was political. He says, “I didn’t want to make a political film, rather a social film; almost an anthropological film.”
Prieto added, “In a documentary, you leave your comfort zone. On a narrative film, you have an agenda and a script, and it’s controlled. With a documentary, it’s more like hunting a moment. I can’t manage the setup, rather I capture the moments of their lives and try to make sense of that.”
A reception took place at 5pm prior to the showcase of the film, with a Q&A following between Luis Prieto and Aaron Mullins of Visit Bentonville.
March’s Movie Monday was made possible by Kickstart Entertainment, a proven production company with more than 19 years experience in broadcast television and film. They are passionate storytellers and designers and have produced over 500 episodes of television, and 20 feature and made-for-television films. Ready to Kickstart your project? Find out more at www.kickstartent.com.
Next months Movie Monday features filmmaker Jen McGowan with her thriller that took BFF 2018 by storm, Rust Creek.
Keep up with all BFF news, events, and grab your tickets for BFF 2019, May 7 – 11. Mark your calendars!