Marcelo Martinessi - The Heiresses Interview

Interviews

Interview: Marcelo Martinessi – The Heiresses (Las Herederas) | 2018 Berlin Intl. Film Festival

Published on January 18, 2019

Paraguayan filmmaker Marcelo Martinessi‘s feature debut is one of the more unique queer cinema film examples of recent memory in terms of offering a glimpse into homosexuality via a demographic that is not often cinematically put on display. Commencing with the happy partnership between Chela (Ana Brun) and Chiquita (Margarita Irun), The Heiresses delves into the notion of love, interdependence, ageism and what occurs when the affluent…are forcibly placed into a different demographic circle. This seismic shift asks the character of Chiquita to reevaluate her status and her future, and what is remarkable is how her own desire becomes an obstacle of sorts.

A topical companion piece to last year’s showing of Sebastián Lelio’s Chilean drama, A Fantastic Woman, in my sit down with the filmmaker, I inquired about the inspiration behind portraying romance with this character set, Martinessi’s interest for exploring the mundanities of everyday life, his post-political approach, classism, and symbolism found in the sequences built around the use of the car.

Amir Ganjavie

Amir Ganjavie, a Ph.D. in communication and culture, is a Toronto-based writer, cultural citric, festival director, community activist and filmmaker. Fascinated by the issue of alternative and utopian space in modern urban settings and cinema, Amir has published several articles on utopia and two books, one on utopia (Le rÃ´le de la pensÃ©e utopique dans lâamÃ©nagement des villes de demain) and the other on walkable neighbourhoods (Pour une ville qui marche). He has recently co-edited two special volumes on Iranian cinema for film International and Asian Cinema and edited a Humanities of the Other: An essay collection on the Dardanne Brothers (in Persian). Aside from academia, he writes for MovieMaker, Filmint, Mubi, Senses of Cinema, Offscreen and Brightlight. Amir is very active in the community. He serves as the CEO of CineIran Festival and Phoenix Cultural Centre of Toronto. He is also the founding member of NaMaNa Cinema. He has recently directed/produced a long feature film in Canada, named Pendulum. His top 2 theatrical release for 2017: IldikÃ³ Enyedi's On Body and Soul and Michel Hazanavicius's Redoubtable.