INTERVIEW: Debut feature from Rodrigo Ruiz Patterson set for Sundance
Photo: Summer White, the new film from Rodrigo Ruiz Patterson, stars Adrián Rossi as a young teenager dealing with the new distance he feels from his mother. Photo courtesy of Cinema Tropical / Provided with permission.
In Summer White, the new drama from first-time director Rodrigo Ruiz Patterson, a 13-year-old named Rodrigo finds that the one true constant in his life — his mother — is slowly being pulled away from him. The presence of his mother’s new boyfriend has Rodrigo facing the painful reality of growing up and growing further away.
Summer White, or Blanco de Verano, is set to premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, running through Feb. 2 in Park City, Utah. Patterson will be on hand to showcase his film as part of the World Cinema Dramatic competition, according to press notes.
Patterson’s entry in the film festival is a deeply personal, almost poetic study in how a boy comes of age. Rodrigo’s life on the outskirts of Mexico City had so much promise and love, but then when it’s shattered by this new boyfriend, the teenager doesn’t know what to do and who is a friend anymore.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Patterson about his new film, which comes to Sundance courtesy of the Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica’s Opera Prima program. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What does it feel like to be on the eve of premiering your first-ever feature-length film?
We are all very excited. It’s a dream come true for me to present the film in a festival with such history as Sundance. Our main goal is to make the film travel as much as possible and be seen by as many people as possible, so I’m sure this is a great start.
What inspired you to tell this story? Are some of these stories autobiographical?
I wanted to talk about those instances when complex emotions are presented to us for the first time in our lives. How we deal with jealousy, rejection and emotional dependence when we don’t know where to accommodate them because we’ve never experienced them before. It started out as a story with autobiographical elements, but at some point, in talking to the other screenwriter, Raúl [Sebastián Quintanilla], we decided that my life wasn’t that interesting. So, we decided to write a fiction for the sake of good drama. So, despite the autobiographical feeling the film for sure has, none of the scenes you see actually happened in real life.
What it was like working with such a young teenager on a story involving such difficult issues?
It was difficult, of course. It was a work of mutual trust that took its own time and was impossible to push. It was an interesting exercise of listening carefully to Adrián [Rossi] (the actor) and making a real effort to understand how he felt about his life and his emotions at that point. It’s been a while since I was a 14-year-old kid, so he gave me clues for how best to portray the character of Rodrigo with truth and complexity. There are some difficult scenes in the film that we discussed with him openly, always listening to what he had to say. I made him understand that none of what was happening in the scene was real and that he was playing a fictional character, not himself. Also I have to mention Mayela, Adrián’s mother, who really trusted me in the work I did with her son.
Do you feel what happens to Rodrigo in the film is experienced by many people trying to find their way in life?
Yes. As I said before, I think there’s some point in everyone’s life that we experience complex emotions for the first time, so it’s difficult to know how to deal with them, how to react, because it can get really physical. I think there’s always a first time you feel that pain in your stomach that comes with jealousy, a matter that, in my opinion, transcends gender, nationality, race or social class.
At what age did you realize you wanted to be a filmmaker?
I was 19 years old, and I didn’t even know what a cinema camera looked like. Only one year prior, I wanted to be a surgeon. I’m glad I made the right choice … maybe not economically, though.
Who were some of your cinematic heroes when growing up?
I have a lot. My mom showed me Rumble Fish by F.F. Coppola when I was really young. I immediately felt an emotional connection with the characters and the story that I hadn’t felt before. Years later I watched Amores Perros by Alejandro G. Iñárritu on a VHS tape cause I was too young to get into the cinema to see it on the big screen. From there, I learned that it was possible to tell a compelling and Shakespearean drama in my own city, full of strong emotions, in the Spanish language. Then I started to watch the classical films by Truffaut, Lynch, Buñuel, Kubrick, among many other directors I admire.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywodSoapbox.com
Summer White, directed by Rodrigo Ruiz Patterson, plays the Sundance Film Festival with screenings through Feb. 1. Click here for more information and tickets.
