INTERVIEW: Bruno Santamaría’s new doc explores gender, identity, courage
Photo: Things We Dare Not Do, directed by Bruno Santamaría, tells the story of Ñoño. Photo courtesy of Cinema Tropical / Provided with permission.
Things We Dare Not Do, the new documentary from filmmaker Bruno Santamaría, is a poignant portrait of a teenager exploring his gender identity and confronting his family with a secret he has been keeping. The protagonist is 16-year-old Ñoño, who lives in a small village on the Pacific Coast in Mexico. In this rural setting, not far from the beautiful and dreamy waves of the ocean, Ñoño decides to tell his parents and siblings that he prefers to dress as a woman.
Santamaría explores issues of gender and identity in these 71 minutes by finely focusing on Ñoño’s journey — from his unofficial role as a leader of the village’s children to the yearning to be his true self.
The director first heard of this small village because of a man who flies a small plane over the town each and every Christmas. He’s dressed as Santa Claus, and he drops candy on the running children. The filmmaker was intrigued by this image, and he wanted to know more.
“For me, that was amazing, so I decided to go there,” Santamaría said in a recent phone interview. “So I start to meet other people from there. … It’s interesting because most of the kids are from 6 to 10 years old, but in the middle of them was one that was bigger than the other ones. And he was Ñoño, and I think that was the first reason we saw each other because he was the only one adult in the middle of all these kids. So we started to talk, and the story begins.”
The film, executive produced by Academy Award winner Laura Poitras and Charlotte Cook, recently made its world premiere at the 2020 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in the World Showcase section. One day, when the coronavirus pandemic lifts, Santamaría hopes to bring the film to theaters, in particular to Mexico.
“For me, Ñoño was keeping a secret that was making him stop growing,” said Santamaría, whose previous film was a documentary called Margarita. “He wanted to dress as a woman as the way he wants to live. He doesn’t know yet, I think, if he’s a woman or if he wants to transform his way of life, but now the thing is that he wants to dress as a woman.”
Santamaría was happy that Ñoño gathered the courage to confront his family and the community. The filmmaker is also happy to report that his main subject is still living life on his own terms. Ñoño today is working and giving lessons to children; he also sells dresses and clothes in a nearby town, which is one of the final images of the documentary.
“In some way, I felt that he had like a wall that was keeping him blocked, like a barrier,” the director said. “He [started] growing when he started to live the life he wanted to live, and for me that is one of the best lessons the movie gives to the audience. … It’s hard to be open and to confront [someone] — to say the things that we want to say. It’s better to do that, I think. I think sometimes it’s difficult, but when you do it, you can see it it’s better for you.”
Santamaría used masculine pronouns when talking about Ñoño, saying that the documentary’s subject is currently exploring his gender identity. He did say that Ñoño is “completely brave” and that he set an example for the community. The director was 30 years old at the time of the filming, and he was so touched by this 16-year-old’s courageous stance to live his own life and finally let his parents know the truth.
“Of course, he was not just in front of his parents,” the filmmaker said. “He knew that he was also being filmed, and he was so open. … This little town is very isolated from the world. Also, there’s not too much internet. There’s not too much information. That is one of the contexts we tried to film also during the movie. … When he realizes he can do whatever he wants with his gender, with his identity, now he’s growing.”
Santamaría found the reaction of Ñoño’s parents quite surprising. The director knew the conversation was coming, and he knew there was the potential for them not to take the news well. However, soon after the revelation, the director found that the family had accepted Ñoño — his father, his mother, his siblings were apparently OK with the decision.
“I think most of the time in these towns, there are times when Ñoño dresses like a woman, and most of the time they are like buffoons of the people,” he said. “The people laugh about them, and they accept that because it’s a way of being part of the town. Now I’m happy because Ñoño is not doing that.”
Things We Dare Not Do is Santamaría’s second feature-length filmmaking. His first project came courtesy of a woman who lived on the street in front of his residence. He decided to interview the woman, named Margarita, whom he was friendly with for 15-20 years. Eventually, Santamaría decided to hit the record button.
“We loved to talk,” he said. “She said a lot of crazy things. She loves art. … So I made a movie about her. At the end, when we were editing the movie, we realized that the movie was about us and the relationship we built. … That was the reason I started to love documentaries because I was not looking for anything, but in front of my house there was a woman who captured my attention for a lot of years. So then when I realized she was an actress, I had the idea to make a movie. That’s the reason I entered into cinema.”
That love for documentary film has only grown and now includes the brave story of Ñoño.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Things We Dare Not Do, directed by Bruno Santamaría, recently premiered at the 2020 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. Click here for more information.
