ENRIQUE NOVIALS: BY HOOK OR BY CROOK
Interview By: Sadie Duarte
PUNK GLOBE: You’re an award-winning Spanish filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. What’s more fun: acting or directing movies?
ENRIQUE: I enjoy them both, but I’ll always say I’m an actor. I think I’m good at directing and telling stories. As a director, I have the power to tell the stories I want and I quite like that. I can’t really choose between one option and the other. I’ve already starred in a movie while directing it, but it’s obviously much harder. If I’m offered a good role, I’ll star in more films, of course!
PUNK GLOBE: Your western movie Kill Them All and Don’t Come Back Alone has received so many international awards. Please, tell us something about this project.
ENRIQUE: This movie is part of a feminist western trilogy that it began with Calamity Jane 1882. I haven’t shot the last film yet: Letters to the Daughter. So far, Kill them All and Don’t Come Back Alone is my most ambitious project. We shot it in Almeria (Spain). It was an incredible and very intense experience. I’m very happy and proud of the final result. It’s also a tribute to many western movies. It has many similarities to all the classical westerns that I really like. But for me, the good thing is the script came to my mind without even thinking about the story. As a rule, I just sit down and write. I love working like this. It is said that Marlon Brando sometimes did not pay much attention to the script. He just knew what to do and did it in such a brilliant way. It’s so wonderful and I think that’s the path any actor should follow. And who knows if saying “just let it flow” could also be the perfect motto for any other screenwriter.
PUNK GLOBE: If you could choose to work with any director and actor, who would they be?
ENRIQUE: This question could be part of a fictional world, so my answer will be sort of the most impossible dream. I’d love to work with Paul Newman, Montgomery Clift, Joanne Woodward and Ava Gardner. As for directors: Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman, Elia Kazan, Robert Redford and John Huston.
PUNK GLOBE: What are your next projects?
ENRIQUE: Right now, I’m about to shoot a short film in 16mm, a kind of neo-noir story. A detective is looking for a child who’s been kidnapped during the pandemic. I’ll shoot the movie in Mequinenza (Spain).
PUNK GLOBE: Do you have any plans to travel to the USA soon? Would you like to shoot a movie there?
ENRIQUE: Yes. Actually, my movie Kill Them All and Don’t Come Back Alone has been selected at a festival in New Mexico and we’ll be traveling there to promote it. We’ve won most western film festivals we’ve sent the movie to in the USA. We’re very grateful and we want to go there to say farewell to our film as it’s about to finish the festival circuit. This festival has a friendly atmosphere and I’m sure we’ll have a great time! Apart from this, the teaser for the western project Letters to the Daughter has also been selected at The Wild Bunch Film Festival in Arizona and we’ll be there too. My team and I are so excited to be recognised. It’s such an honor for us! It’s always good to go to festivals, although we all know it’s not always possible. It’ll be my first time in the United States. This country has always had a big influence on me since I was a little kid, so I can’t wait to go. I’d love to shoot a movie in the USA, of course! If someone wants to give me a good offer, I’ll consider it for sure!
PUNK GLOBE: What’s your opinion about indie filmmakers in Spain? Do you think they have the opportunities they really deserve?
ENRIQUE: Well, I won’t bite my tongue because I have nothing to lose. This thing about promoting Spanish independent filmmakers is a fallacy. They are all there, yes, but Spanish festivals and producers ignore them 90%. And therefore, they don’t care at all and turn their backs on them as if they didn’t exist. Only those Spanish filmmakers who have the right contacts make it to the top. But either someone in the family has good friends or these guys are sponsored by any film school that would like to promote its brand… or perhaps they’re just millionaires! And nothing of this has to do with art. So those filmmakers who reach the top, they may or may not be so talented. Or at least it doesn’t seem to be a specific requirement. There are other things to be considered. In short, having any opportunities or not will always depend on things not related to art. If someone is talented enough, has good friends or if he/she wins a lottery ticket, the better opportunities for him/her. Furthermore, most of the well-known Spanish festivals follow a similar pattern. From my point of view, even if this Spanish festival’s motto is: “We promote new voices in the film industry”, this is completely false. They’ll never choose an unknown filmmaker to compete in their festivals. They value other things. That’s how it is. And since these festivals are only selecting short films, this is completely unknown to the public as a rule. There’s no truly revolutionary festival that will select a film without looking at the filmmaker’s pedigree. That’s so sad. But hey, many people try to earn a living the best they can.
PUNK GLOBE How can our readers contact you for professional purposes?
ENRIQUE: This is my email: guarrotxena1@hotmail.com and you can also contact me on Instagram: @gajate6.
Thank you very much to Punk Globe for this interview!