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Fernando Frias\u2019 I\u2019m No Longer Here (Ya No Estoy Aqu\u00ed) had a long journey to the screen \u2014 conceived when Frias was a student at New York\u2019s Columbia University, the project was selected by the Sundance Writers Lab in 2014, and went before cameras in 2017, ultimately hitting the festival circuit in 2019, and Netflix last year. Challenges in getting the acclaimed drama made included everything from financing hurdles to a lengthy hiatus and the lead actor being rejected for a U.S. work permit three times in a row.<\/p>\n
The battles paid off with I\u2019m No Longer Here scooping 10 Ariel Awards (Mexico\u2019s Oscar equivalent) along with other prizes, and being selected as Mexico\u2019s entry for the International Feature Oscar race. It carries a 100% fresh critics\u2019 score on Rotten Tomatoes and has found support from such Mexican titans as Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron.<\/p>\n
Frias\u2019 drama spotlights Kolombia counterculture in Monterrey, Mexico and follows the story of 17-year-old Ulises (played by breakout Juan Daniel Garcia Trevi\u00f1o). He\u2019s the leader of \u201cLos Terkos,\u201d a street gang that has a passion for slowed-down cumbia music. But it\u2019s not just a music genre; for them it\u2019s a culture shown through dance parties, their oversized wardrobe, unique hairstyles and gang alliances. After a mix-up with a local cartel, Ulises is forced to migrate to Jackson Heights, Queens, where he quickly finds himself wanting to return home.<\/p>\n
Regarding those unique hairstyles, Frias says, \u201cThe team in charge of hair and makeup sent us wigs so the characters could play around with them and they spent three days trying out things. None of the kids had ever acted before. It was a very fun part of the process.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for discovering Trevino and some of the other actors, Frias used \u201cdifferent lines of investigation\u201d including local social media and connecting with anthropologists. Eventually, and without assigning roles, he assembled what he calls \u201ca summer camp\u201d for the kids to get comfortable.<\/p>\n
Notably, Trevino gathered a group of people \u2014 from neighbors to family \u2014 in what Frias calls \u201can incredible gesture.\u201d The young man \u201cdidn\u2019t say this is an opportunity only for myself, he invited everyone.\u201d When Frias told Trevino and his mother that there was a possibility he could have a big role in the movie, the novice said, \u201c\u2019This is your film and you do whatever you want, I support you.\u2019 I thought, \u2018This is a leader\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prior to that, Frias recalls that after the Sundance Lab, \u201cI was very foolish or naive to think that maybe I would have a better chance of finding producers in the U.S. I explored that path, but it\u2019s very difficult with an indie film in Spanish and no one famous. I was living in New York and I knew how competitive it was in Mexico to get government funds and I didn\u2019t want to wait that long. They were moving slow in the U.S., we got grants in small amounts and then applied to the Mexican Film Fund. They didn\u2019t give us that one, but in 2016 we applied again and finally got it. By the end of 2016, the production company was doing another film and had to wait to shoot in summer 2017. A film based in two places was really tricky.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then in fall 2017, the production had problems with getting a visa for Trevino. \u201cIt was terrible,\u201d says Frias. Even with immigration lawyers in tow, the permit was rejected by the U.S. consulate three times. Luckily, on the fourth try it was granted \u2014 a good thing because had it failed, Frias told me, it would have meant another application had to wait 10 years.<\/p>\n
After seven years with the film, what is Frias\u2019 state of mind today? \u201cIt\u2019s very strange how I was connected to the project during the process of giving birth to it and now it\u2019s not any more my film \u2014 it\u2019s out there in the world. It feels ironic now because so many parts of the process felt really lonely and frustrating, to say the least, but it has taught me this lesson of patience and resilience.\u201d<\/p>\n
View this article at Deadline<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u2018I\u2019m No Longer Here\u2019 Director Fernando Frias On The Journey Of Mexico\u2019s International Feature Oscar Entry: Fernando Frias\u2019 I\u2019m No Longer Here (Ya No Estoy Aqu\u00ed) had a long journey to the screen \u2014 conceived when Frias was a student at New York\u2019s Columbia University, the project was selected by the Sundance Writers Lab in
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