Meet Gonzalo Guajardo and Abezash Tamerat of “Paper Boats” in Burbank

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gonzalo Guajardo and Abezash Tamerat.

Gonzalo and Abezash, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
We were both wandering souls who had come to feel so much at home in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. And yet it was by complete chance that we stumbled into another in the city nightlife. Thus Ethiopian-American Abezash Tamerat met me, Spanish Gonzalo Guajardo. That was in 2016.

Though only in her mid-30s, she was writing her memoirs. What she had been through before we met turned out to be harrowing, shocking, tearful, yet also profoundly inspiring. I was blown away and committed to taking it to the screen. So much happened since then. We married, had a child, I got a scholarship to come to LA, pursued a Master’s Degree in Filmmaking, and finally made this short film as a foretaste of a much longer and larger format that we hope to bring to life in the years to come.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Firstly, we had to leave our life in Ethiopia to come and pursue my masters in filmmaking, which was already a challenge itself: to move a family of four from Addis Abeba to LA. Funny enough, LA will brought life to our fifth member of the family, Lidia!

With regard to the making of the movie, the script was undoubtedly the most difficult part. Considering that we were trying to adapt a three hundred pages memoir into a fifteen pages short. We soon realized that we had to compromise and select a few chapters and stick to them rather than trying to tell the whole story (that, hopefully, will come with the feature). Yet, the need for dramatic writing was a painful process, where we had to kill characters, combine them or add them to the narrative to make it work in such a short piece.

The story was very personal, and we knew it will be hard to write it, to talk to about it, to dramatize it. However, we had faith in each other and in spite of how hard eventually became (especially with the most dramatic episodes of her life), I can say that it ended up having a positive effect not only on the movie but on our relationship as well.

More obstacles! The budget, which started to increase as we got closer to principal photography. We were very lucky to have a network of relatives and friends who supported our crowdfunding campaign and contributed to paying for half of the expenses of the movie.

Finally, I will humbly say that I underestimated the postproduction process in terms of time and budget. A proper edit, color, sound, music, etc. requires time and money, and we did not have it! In a battle against time and pulling a few savings here and there, we can say that we are finally done and the movie will soon hopefully start the festival itinerary (wait, that’s another expense! Dam this business is pricy!)

“Paper Boats” – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from others?
“Paper Boats” is my thesis film at the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles. We came all the way from Ethiopia to Los Angeles to make this short as a proof of concept for a larger project, and we can happily say that we managed to do what we came for. Having a clear vision of our goal helped us in difficult times when doubt came and when the project becoming too overwhelming.

Abezash is not only a writer but also a printmaking artist and photographer. I am a filmmaker most focused on documentaries, which is something that keeps me busy in Ethiopia, where we live. This is my first ever serious narrative piece and hopefully not the last!

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
For us, success is to have been able to do this together without killing each other!  That’s a success!!! Filmmaking is very consuming, in terms of time, energy, resources… we would have probably failed at it had not we walked together this difficult path. Therefore, for us, success can be defined as having a common goal and working together towards it. As long as we stick together, no matter the output, we succeed respecting each other and having a beautiful common experience that brought an output which, for better or worse, will always be there for the world to see.

Contact Info:

• Address: 113 1/2 N Screenland Dr
• Website: www.paperboatsthemovie.com
• Phone: +1 818 398 4443
• Email: g.guajardo@student.nyfa.edu
• Instagram: @paperboatsmovie
• Facebook: @paperboatsmovie
• Twitter: @paperboatsmovie

Image Credit:
Mark Buckley, Wara Pornkulwat, Gonzalo Guajardo

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