LIFE REBORN, 12min., Panana
Directed by Marcel Barragan
LUCAS (Marcel Barragán) and his daughter CLARISA (María Alexandra Sanz), recreate a wonderful trip to space as NASA crew members. Clarisa is very ill at a terminal point. The objective of this trip is to connect with a Magical Universe for her salvation, and in a great adventure, they succeed!

https://marcelbarragan.com/life-reborn/
https://www.instagram.com/liferebornshort/

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?
Space has always caught my attention. And for a while I wanted to do something with the musical piece Life Reborn by our composer Giancarlo Castro D'addona, also I wanted a little girl to star in my next project, and something special happened to me with the movie Top Gun Maverick. So the call from NASA to make a short film based on space gave me the opportunity to put everything together in one project.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
I never imagined that we could do something so fast. Everything was achieved in just 14 days.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
Deep passion.

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
At first, thinking that the Crew were not going to accept this project because there was no money, however, everyone said yes. TIME being the great and desperate obstacle, an obstacle that was only in my mind, because time was what it should be and that's it. Things happen the way they should.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
I was at a mall when the mail arrived. And I wanted to sit down to watch it... I started crying no matter who was watching, it was hard for me to believe that all these wonderful opinions were referring to my movie. Seeing the sincerity with which these people expressed themselves is a huge reward. It's still kind of amazing to me.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
Since I was a child I loved cinema but I never imagined that it would be my profession. As an adult I made my first short film, I was a co-writer, I produced it and I acted. And at that moment I realized that I didn't want to do anything else, just movies.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
Oh my God... I can watch a movie infinite times when I really like it, however, I saw the movie Top Gun Maverick 22 times in the theater. I never thought I would do that. Even that movie became part of a therapeutic process for me.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
It would be great if other festivals did at least something similar to what you do, it helps a lot to promote our work. Something interesting to add to the festivals would be to link to the filmmakers who intend to make their short film a feature film; with possible financiers, but as long as they pose as part of the production, create a social program. That would motivate new companies to participate in the cinema, and also, that a % of the financing obtained be for the festival that made the link. In this way all of you could grow a lot, in terms of venues, movie theaters and more benefits for us. In addition to helping to improve society.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?
The truth is that I am very grateful to FilmFreeway. I admit that I had never done Festival work even when I made my own feature film a few years ago. So for me it was doing everything from scratch. The platform is extremely complete, with many festival proposals and its registration and communication processes are excellent.

10. What is your favorite meal?
I love soups and sweets.

11. What is next for you? A new film?
New Films!!! I have scripts ready which include Social Programs for Children, these Programs do not exist in many countries, not even in the United States. I had been working on these projects and now Life Reborn joins, which is already structured for a feature film. So I keep working to be able to film any of them.