5 Questions with Kristian Mercado Figueroa
The film poem, “Mariposa,” directed by Kristian Mercado Figueroa, is a poignant reflection of single motherhood told through the words of contemporary poet Rachel Inez Marshall. We asked Figueroa how the project started, his motivation to create the piece, and a recent film he’s loved…
1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?
I'm a Spanish Harlem native, and grew up in part in Puerto Rico. Film seemed to be connected to family to me, it brought my family together, and it always had a presence in day to day life for me. My uncle Papo was the king of the bootleg in Puerto Rico, so he would host these long late night movie nights in our humble town of Arroyo, and it was a ritual that I grew up with. Movies just seemed like this universal language, something that spoke directly to everyone in a communal way few things do. So he would put together a group of three tapes and we would marathon movies all summer, and my whole family would gather around for it. We'd have café, bread, and popcorn, watching the films, everything from Back to the Future to Robocop, a lot of genre stuff. It was a strong education in learning how much film can connect people together. It's the modern campfire; ever since I really associate film with family.
2) What was the first piece of the puzzle with this project, and how did you go about building up from there?
The poem was what I picked first, we were given a list of poems to choose from and I opted to do Mariposa because it spoke to me the most. It kind of reminded me of my own mother, and I felt it was something I'd like to explore. From there since it had a super low budget, I ended up asking people I knew if they wanted to just experiment with me in finding a narrative involving Latinx women. It's kind of an high end home video in a sense, cause my nieces are in it, my mom, and it's like this evocative contemplation on single motherhood. I would just feel the scenes out, and treated it more like an actors workshop rather than a scripted format. I was more curious about finding an emotion than a story in some ways, and just wanted the story to have gaps the audience fills. I think it's important to give the audience space to fill in those gaps, so it's more of a dialog, rather than me strictly dictating what it's all about, because I want a viewer to maybe see their own mother in it a bit. Single motherhood has been something my work has been exploring as of late...
3) Can you talk a bit more about your motivation to create this piece. Was it similar or different than what usually motivates you to create? What was the biggest challenge in terms of communicating what you wished to say?
I think it's a bit weird but I think I was interested in telling a story based on my own relationship with my mother, and cycles. I'm interested in how we might resemble our parents, even if we don't realize it. I'm a pretty wild style director often jumping around, but my focus as of late is really geared in exploring the need for more Latinx stories. I think it's something the world needs right now. That's been a big motivation in my life right now, to try to make film a more inclusive diverse landscape and making sure the Latinx narrative is being explored from a more contemporary space. I think the biggest challenge in communicating is getting across the genuine emotion, getting the audience to understand or feel something that is both love and also painful. That's a hard thing to convey, and something I'm working towards to all the time.
4) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?
Revanche, I recently re-watched it and it's a film I really love and will watch over and over again. I really love how complicated the relationships and dynamics are. The feeling of pressure is tangible, you really understand the circumstances of the characters, and relate to them on a very human level. You also really get a strong feeling for the gaps, the things some characters know, and others don't and what the audience knows. The tone of the film hits hard too, it tells us something honest about the human condition.
Midsommar in theaters, that shit banged so hard, crazy a film like that exist, it def inspired.
5) What’s next for you?
Working on a bunch of stuff. Been getting a lot of cool reach outs and learning to navigate new spaces, so it's all a big learning experience for me. Being a bit of a reckless outsider. I'm focused on a lot of things so trying to juggle it all. Wrote a few shorts and just aligning funds and planning how to get them off the ground. Been writing something more long format. I'm also trying to explore the mumblecore format but just way more hood, around Spanish Harlem, BK, and BX with my good friend Jade. I have a comedy special I'm shooting in Miami, which will be rad. I lowkey fuck with Miami, I keep ending up there lately. Long term feels like a lot of crazy possibilities are looming.
Contact Info:
IG: @krismerc.