Today we’d like to introduce you to Manuel Del Valle.
Manuel, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I am a Mexican film director and producer, living in Pasadena, CA. My main focus is directing narrative short films for the film festival circuit. I am mostly known from my surreal short film “Piel” (2016), heartbreaking “Celeste” (2018), and dramatic thriller “Bloodhound Disciple” which is about to come out into the international film festival circuit this year.
I have always been afflicted with the idea of having “my story¨. It is hard to find a complete arched story when you are in your early twenties (21). I am currently at the inciting incident of my story, but it honestly has been a ride so far. I was born and raised in a very small, but beautiful city in Mexico called San Luis Potosí.
My parents had a deep fascination with traveling and experiencing other ways of living; I became aware of a universal force that causes stories to happen; culture. We are created by the stories that are told to us, and we later grow to live and understand our own story. That is why I believe that to maintain and save the beautiful cultural shift that exists from one country to another the stories that we tell need to be diverse.
I started creating films at the age of nine. At that young age, I thought of the Director as the one and only creator of the piece, not knowing that it is the compilation of the work of a vast amount of people. I discovered that I was leaning towards an art where you had to deal with people to get things done. The good thing is that I love dealing with people. I discovered I had a little producer in me.
The other teenagers around me were intrigued by my unusual activities. Just imagine how funny was to see a 13-year-old kid setting up a meeting and arriving dressed in a suit to governmental offices asking permission to use a location. In 2016, I moved to San Francisco CA to pursue my filmmaker career. San Francisco gave me a warm welcome to the filmmaking world.
I explored the Experimental side of filmmaking and discovered that narrative is where I want to be. I moved to Los Angeles, and I am Currently studying film degree at ArtCenter College of Design.
Has it been a smooth road?
The adaptation to a new culture can be a tremendous struggle for a filmmaker who is trying to create honest and personal films. The fear of allowing yourself to depict a culture that is not yours in your stories can be overwhelming.
Since I moved to Los Angeles, I have tried to force myself to feel welcome to tell stories about cultures that are foreign and to understand human behavior in a universal level and then adapt it to the place and time where my story takes place.
After two short films where my characters are based in the United States, I have recently come back to my routes; I produced “Socorro” with my collaborator Erik Hirschhorn.
Socorro follows the story of Ulises, a young Mexican man who for the first time accompanies his uncle to cross Mexican migrants through the desert to the United States. I have two more shorts in development at the moment about Latino characters.
As a Mexican, the importance of Latino voice representation on the filmmaking industry is urgent and thank God I have been blessed to find Latino creatives around me. I have recently attended “Guanajuato International Film Festival” “Hola Mexico Film Festival´s Tomorrow Filmmakers Today,” which is HBO sponsored.
This year, “Celeste” was an Official Selection at Oaxaca Film Fest. These Mexican film festivals welcome work from all over the world and also put a spotlight on Latino creatives with a unique voice and unique stories.
I have recently joined NALIP (The National Association of Latino Independent Producers) which is a national membership organization that addresses the professional needs of Latin@ content creators.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Makos Pictures story. Tell us more about the business.
I am currently focused on my short films, but I am planning on getting my first feature made eventually in the next few years.
It’s exciting to see my hard work from this year finally being exhibited. “Bloodhound Disciple” follows the story of a renewed ex-gang member who converted into a Catholic priest and is determined to get back his younger brother who is in serious danger at the hands of his old crime partners.
It was recently selected by the Festival Internacional de Cine de San Luis Potosí to open the inaugural ceremony and share screen with “Roma” Alfonso Cuarón´s (Gravity, Children Of Men) newest film.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.manueldelvallefilms.com
- Phone: 626 390 6333
- Email: makospictures@gmail.com
- Instagram: @manueldvma
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