How did you get inspired to become a filmmaker?
After watching Truffaut’s “The 400 Blows” I knew I wanted to make films for the rest of my life.
What is your favorite part about the short film form?
I think it is very complex and it forces the filmmaker to be economic in every sense of the word: To learn cinema one must learn how make short films: because you will literally face each and every possible obstacle, you will make a lot of mistakes, you will learn how important it is to trust your collaborators, and how important it is to have infinite discipline when working alone. My favorite part is stepping into the world with a camera: and returning home with the captured cosmos hidden in an unexposed cartridge of celluloid.
Irving Gamboa’s “Tulum City of Dawn”
Who were the people that supported the making of this film?
Allison Opiola: My cosmic Mate. Maribel Gamboa: My mother. My closest friends.
What resources do you use as a filmmaker? Music, locations, props, editing, crew, etc.
As a filmmaker: I believe that the most fundamental aspect of cinema is the relationship between Image and Sound: that strange and invisible convergence: the marriage of those two “resources” is the most quintessential essence of filmmaking: Thus, I focus on an idea, and once that idea flourishes and becomes a solid reality: I think about how it will unfold on the screen: how the image and the sound will correlate, and what emotional impact it will have on the viewer.
What is your next project?
I am working on a short film about a fictional encounter between Jesus Christ and Barabbas. It is my first digital project and it is currently in post production.
The independent film business is a difficult one. What keeps you motivated? Where do you see the industry going in the future?
As an artist I only see myself a Vessel for something much greater than myself: I receive information through dreams, visions or ideas, which morph into poems, films, sounds, images… My motivation is the very process of creation. As long as I continue dreaming, I will continue to create art. I think this is a very interesting period of time for filmmakers because of the incredible advancements in technology: If you really want to make a film, you have all the necessary tools available in a cell phone; however, for those of us interested in celluloid: things can get pretty expensive, but this contest is proof that film is indeed not dead, and that an incredible “rebirth” of celluloid is happening!!! As long as people have ideas and something to record reality with: Cinema will continue to exist: morphing, evolving and changing, but forever moving forward.
Irving Gamboa’s “Tulum City of Dawn”
Which filmmakers, artists or individuals have most influenced your work?
Andrei Tarkovsky,Béla Tarr , Carlos Reygadas, Michelangelo Antonioni, Harmony Korine, Derek Jarman , Maya Deren, Sergei Parajanov, Ingmar Bergman, Luis Buñuel, Hiroshi Teshigahara, Abbas Kiarostami , Stan Brakhage, Glauber Rocha, Jean Cocteau, Gaspar Noé, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, T.S. Eliot, William S. Burroughs, Arthur Rimbaud,James Joyce, Dylan Thomas, Octavio Paz, Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso, Pieter Bruegel, Albrecht Dürer.
What advice would you give new filmmakers?
Do not listen to your teachers, only believe half of what you read in books, and believe everything you see in the screen: If you want to be a filmmaker, watch films: especially good ones!!!
Watch and vote for Filmmaker Irving Gamboa’s “Tulum City of Dawn” Competing in Kodak Super 8 Filmmaking Challenge Finals.
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