an interview with gracie flores: writer/director of Eres Tú
Hello, it's Gracie here! Before delving into your questions, I just want to say thank you to everyone who's shown Eres Tú support since even before it was under production-- it truly wouldn't have been possible without all of your support and help. And to those who saw Eres Tú on premiere day, a week after, a month after the premiere, or even yesterday, thank you for loving this project as much as I do <3
your questions, answered:
“What inspired you to make it (Eres Tú)?”
Okay, I’m going to take you back to the very day I got the idea. Let’s set the scene: It was roughly 9pm on June 25th, 2021. I was in my room with my siblings when my six year old sister grabbed her stuffed teddy bear that has a projector thingy (idk how to explain it) on its stomach and turned it on to have it project stars. I had just remembered that The Marías released their album Cinema earlier in the day, so I decided to turn off the lights and have a dance/streaming party with them. After about thirty minutes, I got tired and decided to just lay down and watch the stars move across the ceiling. It took me back to the first time I went stargazing— the first time I dated a girl, and hence the time I was starting to unravel what it meant to “be out” since coming-out. This is (partly) how Alex’s character came to be. Though, at the time I was going through a situation much like Mari’s with someone else. I was navigating a lot of confusion and pain from this, so I turned to writing to deal with it. Hence, Mari’s character was born.
Eres Tú is a collection of my experiences, my feelings, and people I have come across since coming-out. It’s a piece about love and pain, second chances and difficult goodbyes, certainty and confusion. It’s a piece inspired by the complexities of queer relationships and the idea that sometimes you have to let people go– either because you need time to grow and explore who you are (like Alex) or because you need to prioritze yourself and your feelings to heal (like Mari). (Though, this is not to say that Mari did, in fact, leave; that is up to your interpretation :))
“Was the process of filming it difficult? Btw the short film was amazing!!”
First of all, thank you! It truly means a lot that you liked it because I was ready to give up on it so many times (I’m glad I didn’t)! On the surface, yes, it was very difficult. For one, it was my first film in which I was directing AND acting. As a director, it is my job to help guide the actors in their performance– whether it’s the way they deliver a line, small mannerisms, or the way they carry their body. But, since I was one of the actors, I couldn’t really help to direct myself. Thankfully, I had two of my closest friends (Amy, the DP, and Daniela, the Sound Director) to help guide me. Though, I was constantly rewatching the takes and doubting my delivery of the scene… But, on the more technical side, the camera batteries were dying during some very important scenes, so we started rushing through them and doing no more than 1-2 takes per shot. For example, the scene where Alex and Mari are sitting in the trunk space of the car was supposed to be way longer– there was a lot more dialogue that ultimately had to be cut because the camera died before we could get the perfect take. However, thinking about it now, I think making that scene much more visual than dialogue-heavy made it more effective, so I’m not upset about it. Getting audio at the beach was also very difficult (because of the wind, the ocean, etc.), so we had to get together another day to do ADR for it. But, overall, though some bits got complicated, it wasn’t anything we couldn’t handle or find a workaround to.
“Is it ever awkward when filming a scene?”
Gracie: Oh, yes, absolutely haha. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again– I HAVE NEVER ACTED BEFORE IN MY LIFE! So, pretending to fall in love with someone is certainly… not necessarily awkward, but strange, if you will. It’s not everyday that I’m asked to hold hands or slow dance with another person, ya know? But it was great– we bonded so much over our lack of dancing knowledge and nervous laughter. But aside from that, acting in public is definitely awkward, too. There were a lot of people when we filmed the beach pier scene (aka the first time Mari and Alex hold hands), so there were a lot of stares and people who came up to ask questions, but ultimately the awkwardness of it all just made it even more memorable :)
Nyslai: I have never been a part of a film, this was my first time and it was definitely awkward especially because I relate a lot to Alex’s character :’) I remember the last scene where Alex expresses her love for Mari was awkward because I have never been this open about my own sexuality, and even though I was playing a character, it felt like I was the one finally coming out.
“Was this (Eres Tú) your favorite project?”
Yes, it is. Don’t get me wrong, I love Bloom with all my heart– not only is it my first lgbtq short, but it is also the first short film I was genuinely really proud of. However, Eres Tú is much more personal to me and my story, which is part of the reason I decided to play Mari. Eres Tú is also special to me because I had a lot more creative control over it– I had gotten the Blackmagic 4K camera for the film, and that allowed me to be a lot more deliberate with my color palette and the color grading of the film. When I got around to editing the movie, I was very inspired by a lot of my favorite films that played around with flashbacks, memories, and parallels, so Eres Tú allowed me to experiment with that.
“What’s the process like from an idea to a fully fleshed out story?”
I don’t necessarily think there’s a process, but much rather a series of things that happen out of order. First things first, I never sit down and deliberately say “I’m going to write a script today!” My inspiration comes at random times, but when it does strike I take it to the notes app of my phone. I write down bullet points of random ideas that might make up a story: an initial idea (i.e. what it feels like to “be out,” a heartbreak, etc.), important symbols/details (i.e. the stars, that they meet at a church, “eres tú”), and inspiration from films (i.e. Elisa y Marcela). From there, generally I start to think of the characters and who they are, what their backgrounds are: bits and pieces come from me as an individual, but others come from people I know. After this, it’s all very unstructured. Sometimes I try to plan out the main things I want to have happen (i.e. “They meet. ¿Eres tú? They go for a walk. Falling in love montage. Alex feels under pressure/watched by society. The breakup. Mari reliving the pain through flashbacks. A phone call. Reconciliation? Ambiguous ending.) This is essentially what I wrote in my own notes. As for creating scenes, I guess the way I go about it is taking things from my everyday life. For example, have you ever been sad at your own birthday party? Zoned out into your memories? Been scared to hold a girl’s hand in public? Gay panicked at church? Thought about someone while you lay in bed? And there it is. A fully fleshed out story that is very much going to keep changing over the week(s) that you write it and even during production.
(interview published on December 4th, 2021)