5 Questions with Victoria Rivera
The beautifully observed coming-of-age film, “Verde,” finds two young sisters negotiating shifting priorities. We asked director Victoria Rivera how the project began, what the biggest challenge was, and what comes next for her…
1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?
I am a New York-based writer and director from Bogotá, Colombia who focuses on documentary and narrative films that tackle social issues and character driven dramas. These are all drawn from personal experiences and people who have affected and influenced my life a great deal.
I was born in the US to a large (and loud) latin-american family, and would grow up in my home country of Colombia; land of chaos and contradictions, beauty and magic. I started using film at a very young age to express myself and capture everything, almost obsessively. At eighteen, a day after my high school graduation, I moved to New York to pursue my dreams and study film. I obtained my BFA at School of Visual Arts with a full scholarship and graduated with Honors. I then worked as a producer and director of commercials, short documentaries and branded content in Colombia and New York.
I'm currently enrolled at Columbia University’s MFA Film Program where I’m directing narrative shorts and developing my first feature script under the support of an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant as well as the support of Film Independent.
2) What’s the backstory here - what was the initial idea and how did it evolve from there?
Verde aims to give an honest and intimate look into seemingly small -but never insignificant- moments in our childhood, that come to shape us. We often look at Firsts. First kiss, first love, first broken heart... But the Lasts are left to fade in our memory. I wanted to tell the story of the last time two sisters took a bath, and how that came to be. It was important for me that the film feel like sense memory; vivid in sounds, sight and touch. Like sticking a finger in jelly, or wet summer hair clinging to a t-shirt. When we are kids these senses are everything. We overthink less and explore more.
The script was originally written by Neda Jebelli, an American-Iranian writer who set the film in Tehran, where she spent her childhood years. I was amazed to find that my own childhood, despite cultural and geographical differences, felt exactly like hers. We worked together in adapting the script to take place in Colombia and hope to have told a universal story that feels personal to anyone who might have experienced a moment like this as they came of age.
3) What was the biggest challenge in making this film? And generally what part of the creative process do you enjoy the best, and the least?
The biggest challenge -and biggest reward- on this one was working with a group of young actors. The youngest was 7 and the oldest 14. We did extensive rehearsals where we rarely addressed the script, and instead we focused on the emotions and beats of the story. It felt more like a game than anything else, working on acting exercises that got us comfortable with each other and developing a shorthand of communication, so that by the time we were on set, concise comments and direction were enough to understand what the goal was for each scene. Working with children requires patience and flexibility, but the reward is enormous, because they bring an honesty and unpredictability that forces everyone to be present and open for happy mistakes.
4) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?
I recently saw Monos, by Alejandro Landes, and was blown away by the mastery of the artform, as well as the performance of the actors, most of whom are young and first time actors. The film is painfully specific to Colombia's history and at the same time, a universal film that speaks to heartbreak, violence and vulnerability relatable by anyone, no matter where they are or how much they do or don't know about Colombia's conflict. The film doesn't assume any political stance nor does it try to simplify it into a single film. Instead it focuses on the humanity of the people involved, and does so with honest, brave performances from every one of its cast members.
5) What’s next for you?
I'm currently in pre-production of a short film called Foster, a film about an adult-less foster home run by unruly children, which we'll be shooting in early January in New York. Like Verde, we'll be working with a cast entirely lead by young actors. I'll be working with wonderful partners from Verde such as producer Camila Zavala and cinematographer Soren Nielsen, as well as new collaborators such as Barbara Twist who is producing the film, production designer Juliana Barreto and casting director Charlotte Arnoux. I'm excited to have built a team of talented collaborators and looking forward to finding our cast!
Photo by Juliana Gomez