Today we’d like to introduce you to Jorge G. Camarena.
Jorge, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
A dream capturing machine. Red crayon-colored goggles with green cables and a brown helmet, that was the first drawing I remember doing in kindergarten, which wasn’t as cool as one of my classmates drawing of a Hot-Wheels car that turned into a real flying ship whenever you needed it. Nevertheless, even though I didn’t realize at the time, my terrible drawing and the idea of capturing dreams was the beginning of a lifelong quest.
I was born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico. When I was a child, there was a Mexican brand of cereals with a promotion that consisted of inserting simplified graphic novels for kids with selected stories from the novels of Jules Verne in every box. My grandmother collected these graphic novels and read them to me. I grew up wanting to be an amazing explorer like the characters in Jules Verne’s stories, to wander into the unknown driven by the curiosity of what lies ahead and experience the adventures he described. It took me a long of time to realize that I wasn’t meant to be an explorer like the characters in Jules Verne’s stories. What I found out is that what really caught my attention was the stories, the adventures and places that Jules Verne created and so vividly narrated. Maybe I wasn’t meant to be literally strapped into a real space rocket headed for the moon, but I could still be an explorer in my own way, just as Jules Verne was by creating his stories.
For the past eight years, I have worked as a director and editor doing commercial content such as TV spots and music videos. Music videos gave me the opportunity to portray different aspects of my cultural roots but giving it a turn towards a narrative environment that contains a story and is not just a juxtaposition of images and playback. I have been creditor of different national and international awards and nominations for my work. Some examples are: a nomination for Best Short Video at the Latin Grammy Awards, Best Video of the Year IMAS Indie-O Music Awards, four nominations for the MTV Video Awards among others.
I am currently pursuing a Master’s Degree as a Directing Fellow in the American Film Institute Conservatory. Class of 2020.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I believe storytellers are explorers, the pioneers that fuel our dreams and most inner desires through their tales. That is what I want to do through film: to bring life to the stories, adventures and characters that live inside my imagination. Film is the machine I found that can capture my dreams, a vessel that gives me the opportunity to explore my personal universe and use it to create tangible stories. It is a tiny window that can show us the impossible, the worlds that live within our imagination and it can also be a window to the most inner depth of our souls.
As a Mexican Director, it is my main goal to tell stories of the people and places that represent my own context, the imagery and magical aspects of my culture will always be a part of who I am and what I create. I’ve always been drawn into stories that deal with people not belonging anywhere and the struggle to be a part of this universe and find our place in it. Stories that are hidden in plain sight and that a lot of people choose to ignore. The beauty of broken things and how they compose us. The darkness and the magical aspects that make us human and the fantastical elements of the universe that are there, but only if we look very closely.
Artists face many challenges, but what do you feel is the most pressing among them?
Mexico, being a country with such a vast array of traditions and folklore but at the same time a harsh reality with corrupt governments, poverty and criminals that slaughter and disappear people every day, has shaped me as a person and as an artist. People trying to find the magic in life amidst this terrible reality. An everyday struggle between hope and despair but with the belief that magic exists because it is in our blood.
I think that the responsibility is to be truthful, to submerge into your soul in search for authentic stories that portray the complexity of the human experience. The cultural changes and new social paradigms are inevitably a part of the work. In my projects, the environment informs the characters and the story, the outer world is part of the inner world and they both mix to create story.
Filmmaking is a team effort. As a Director, I always try to collaborate with artists that have strong points of view and that will not take anything for granted. I think that merging our different experiences and views of the world makes the project much more powerful and at the same time, it teaches us something about each other. Filmmaking is an exploration not only with the world that you are submerging yourself into but also the collaboration experience that enhances the story and ultimately ourselves. All of this phenomena makes for a cultural diversity that is constantly evolving,
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
You can check out some of my work in my website. I am also in prep for my Thesis Film which is called spaceship and shoots in February 2020 and hopefully will screen in LA during the summer. It is the story of A Latina trans mother working in downtown Los Angeles as a dishwasher that has to save her daughter before child services take her away.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jorgegcamarena.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jorgegcamarena/
- Other: https://www.spaceshipthefilm.com/
Image Credit:
Gerardo Guerra
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