The actors, part 4B-supporting actor Luis de la Tota

I was planning to interview Luis de la Tota, who plays Josema, the close friend of our hero, Luis, in Domino.  However, the last time I was in Jerez, he was on his way to spend several months in the United States and I didn't have a chance to do the interview.

I'll try to catch up with him in Jerez when I return at the end of January.

Luis (front) and Ali de la Tota.

In the meantime, this is a really cool video of him and his brother Ali.  (Ali de la Tota is also in Domino, but plays a relatively small role.)  I spent hours and hours over several days finding this link.  I'd seen it once months ago, and then lost track of it.  It takes a few minutes to load, but it's really worth watching.

LINK

As you can see, he's very relaxed in front of a camera (important for an actor).  This also gives a great demonstration of his character and for those that are interested, shows off an important part of flamenco.  The flamenco part, well, it's not related to Domino, but it's fun to watch, anyway.

OUR NEXT BLOG will be about thanks to Tras el Trapo theater company.

Our hero, Luis, and Occupy Wall Street/Movimiento 15-M

NOTE:  We recently posted a new scene from Domino showing our hero Luis at home with his family.  The scene is not intended to be high drama.  It mostly gives us a little more context with respect to Luis, but you will notice that the children are playing with dominoes and there's some hint of problems in his conversation with his wife.  In case you're interested, here's the LINK.

NOW--on to Luis and Occupy Wall Street/Movimiento 15-M.

It´s good to be a thorn in the side of the banks that are evicting people, but what is Movimiento 15-M or Occupy Wall Street doing to STOP evictions?

At one point, in the second half of our film, we see Luis passing by a major march and demonstration organized by the Movimiento 15-M, the Indignados, of Spain.  This Movimiento 15-M pre-dates the Occupy Wall Street movement by several months, and as in Occupy Wall Street, is an expression of unhappiness with the economic crisis, unemployment, home evictions, and the role of banks and politicians.

Luis, as you know, is a middle-aged family man in Spain who lost his job and is trying to find a new one before he becomes totally engulfed in financial disaster.  Luis is played by Antonio de la Malena.

And when he encounters the demonstration and march organized by the Movimiento 15-M, he looks at their placards (including one which says "Libertad"--"Liberty" and another which says to move from protesting to direct action).  Rather than joining in, however, he turns his back and goes on his way.

Why?  Surely he can agree with the movement's unhappiness with the crisis, the unemployment, the role that banks have had in creating the crisis and so forth.  And surely he can sympathize with the plight of people being evicted from their homes.

He turns his back because the movement really doesn't relate to him.  The demonstrations, discussions and protests are not going to get him a job.  They are not going to provide him with a way to support his family.  They are, in a word, irrelevant to his concerns.


[When I return to Jerez, I'll post a photo here of a demonstration....]

Perhaps if they succeed in changing the economic and political structure they WILL be relevant to him and his problems, but that is something likely to take years to achieve, if it ever happens at all.  What Luis and others like him need is a solution NOW.  And the Movimiento 15-M (or Occupy Wall Street) doesn't seem to have the capability of providing it.

OUR NEXT BLOG will be more about one of our supporting actors, Luis de la Tota.

A screening of Domino: Caught in the Crisis

A San Francisco Bay Area non-profit called Media Art Works (MAW) has asked to screen part of the rough cut of Domino as part of the monthly series of their film club, the East Bay Media Makers´ Screening Club (EBMMSC).  The screenings are free and open to the public, and take place on the 4th Thursday of the month in the Arlington Cafe, in the East Bay community of Kensington.

Some of the actors.  (Their names are listed below.)

The actors in the above photo are (left to right), Florentino Molina Garcia, José Luis Martinez, Luis de la Tota, Ali de la Tota, Antonio de la Malena, Diego de Malena, and Santiago Moreno. 

The Domino screening is set for Thursday, January 26.  We´ll put up another notice about this closer to the time of the event.  If you live in the Bay Area, we hope you´ll be able to attend.

NOTE:  Here's the logo of Media Art Works (MAW), the organization that's invited us to screen.  Olé Media Art Works:

OUR NEXT BLOG will be about how Luis' predicament relates to Occupy Wall Street and the Movimiento 15-M.

Occupy Wall Street and Movimiento 15-M (Indignados)

On two continents, movements have sprung up expressing people's frustration with the economic crisis, their belief that it has been caused by banks and other financial institutions, and their desire to have the political (and perhaps, social) system undergo fundamental change.  The first of these started in Spain, in May of this year, and is called the Movimiento 15-M (or los Indignados).  The other started near the end of this summer and began as Occupy Wall Street.

Both in their most visible form include people camping out for long periods of time, usually in tents, in or near city centers.  Both offer (or try to offer) daily discussion sessions where the public is invited to discuss our current economic problems, the origins of these problems, and solutions to these problems.

The general assembly point in Occupy Berkeley (CA).

Back side of the general assembly point in Movimiento 15-M, Jerez de la Frontera (Spain).

In all these respects, the two movements are very similar and in fact, I imagine the Occupy Wall Street (and more recently, Occupy Oakland, Occupy San Francisco, Occupy Washington, etc.) movement began partly by taking the Spanish Movimiento 15-M as a model.

But there are also some rather striking differences between the two movements.

One is the reaction of local and national government, and the use or non-use of police to deal with the protestors.

In Spain, with the notable exception of two incidents (one in Madrid and one in Barcelona) there has been, to my knowledge, no serious attempts on the part of government to curtail the protests.  The government doesn´t seem to be afraid of the protestors.

Part of a declaration of principals, Occupy Berkeley.

Call to demonstrate, Movimiento 15-M, Jerez de la Frontera.

As an example, when I was last in Spain (mid-October through late November) the protestors were camped out in the central square of the city where I was staying (Jerez de la Frontera) with no government opposition or police intervention.  There were also several big protest marches, one organized by the Movimiento 15-M people and the others by unemployed or, even more often, unpaid workers (mostly unpaid government workers).  The Movimiento 15-M people participated in the protest marches organized by others.

I also didn´t read about or hear of any government or police action against Movimiento 15-M encampments in other Spanish cities.

In the United States, on the other hand, there have been numerous instances of police tearing down Occupy Wall Street/Occupy San Francisco/Occupy .... encampments.  Often violence is involved, people get hurt, and people get arrested.

Tents with placards, Occupy Berkeley.  Placard is on the right.

Placards and tents, Movimiento 15-M, Jerez de la Frontera.

Another major difference is in the attitude of the protestors.  In Spain, they don't seem to be nearly as confrontational as in the United States.  They set up their camps, they keep their camps clean, and they offer their daily informational and discussion sections at a set hour each day.  They have set up rules for these sessions and for decision-making which emphasize the right of everyone to have a say, and the duty of everyone to listen to each other and respect the right of people to disagree.

In the United States, on the other hand, the protestors are full of demands, often want to force their opinions on others (and I include in this the shutting down of the Port of Oakland), and are sometimes very provocative, including smashing and trashing other people's things.

Tents of Occupy Berkeley.

Tents and signs of Movimiento 15-M, Jerez de la Frontera.

Some of these differences have to do with a different cultural outlook.  Some have to do with fear, and with a process by which one side pushes and the other side pushes back--and the very idea of "we are one side and you are another."  Space prevents me from going into more detail, nor do I want to favor one side in the U.S. over the other, but the differences between the two movements in these regards are really striking.

OUR NEXT BLOG will be about an upcoming screening of Domino in the San Francisco Bay Area.

And yes, there ARE dominos in Domino

This is from the opening scenes.

Of course we have dominoes in Domino...but we also have "the domino effect."  Isn´t that what you´d expect, in a story about the devastating effects of the economic crisis?

Principal photography REALLY completed-in Jerez de la Frontera

We'll start using this blog not only for articles and news items, but also for updates about our progress on Domino.

SO--we finished principal photography for what I believe is the LAST TIME at the end of November, just before I left Jerez de la Frontera (Spain) to return to the San Francisco Bay Area (California).  When I say the LAST TIME, I mean that I do NOT expect to add any more scenes.  As a filmmaker, I´m happy with the structure as it is now.

Of course, I haven´t yet viewed the current version of the film.  I´ve brought a viewing copy with me to California and will look at it soon.  Right now, I´m letting it age, like good wine.

It is currently about 40 minutes long, as opposed to the 20 minutes that it was before my last trip to Jerez.  In one new scene, we managed to incorporate part of the current demonstrations of the Movimiento 15-M (Indignados).  That movement is similar to, and started earlier than, the Occupy Wall Street movement in the U.S..  As a filmmaker who's creating a dramatic narrative about the current economic crisis, including shots of those demonstrations gives Domino more immediacy and relevance.

OUR NEXT BLOG will be about Occupy Wall Street (etc.) and the Movimiento 15-M (Indignados)