Based on true events, American writer/producer Felipe Pina's short film 'A Truth in Silence' (2014) takes a peak inside a mother's life who lived under domestic abuse for 17 years. The film participated at this year's Palm Springs International Shortfest film market and most recently chosen for official selection at the LA International Shortfest.
I interviewed Felipe about his film, which is inspired by his mother's life. Here is what he had to say:
ME: You are the writer and producer of the film. What inspired you to tell this story? Was it based on real events?
FELIPE: Yes, "A Truth in Silence" is a story based on a one page essay my mother had to write about a significant time in her life for a writing class she took 3-4 years ago. She sent it to me to make sure she didn't make any grammatical mistakes. It is a story I didn't know about and at the time I was teaching myself how to write screen plays. I thought, this would make a GREAT short film and I asked her if I could write a short script about it. She said sure. So, I sat and wrote a 10 page short story based on the essay and infused it with the abuse and violence I remember seeing growing up and how it was constantly like walking on egg shells in our home. We all felt like prisoners in a place where we were supposed to feel safe.
ME: Where did you find the cast for this and where is it set? The acting is great and the story truly moving.
FELIPE: I was able to get a wonderful cast through my friend Chad Ritterbach who is a casting agent and has a company called Bok Casting here in Los Angeles. We filtered through 1000 head shots and resume submissions for the male and female lead. Then we narrowed those down to about 100 and brought them in to audition. This was such a personal story, I wanted to make sure I cast the right people that not only looked like my mother and father, but that were phenomenal actors. We ended up with two of the most amazing actors Abimael Linares and Vanessa Garcia. Mason Jackson, the toddler in the film is my friends son. It was a last minute decision, and I thought little Mason would be too young, but he turned out to be perfect for the part.
ME: I get the feeling it is somewhere in South America but then I also feel it could be anywhere. Where is the story set?
FELIPE: The real story actually took place in Chicago 1976 where my father took my mother shortly after they got married. We filmed here in Los Angeles off Wilshire closer to Downtown LA on a street that resemble the South side of Chicago back in the 1970 when it was considered the "projects". Fire escapes, a little run down and diverse.
ME: I see that you have an acting background. What made you turn to writing and producing? Is it something you will be doing more of?
FELIPE: I have written my whole life. I remember in 4th grade elementary school we had a writing contest and I won 1st place for creativity for a book I called 'Mummies Yes or No". I'm pretty sure the story was really weak, but I made the book look like a wrapped mummy and that's where the award was given. They actually created an award for it to be recognized because they got a kick out of the books binding. After that, I would write because it began to help me deal with my feelings of depression or coping with the issues I have had in my life when it came to why I felt the way I did sometimes. As for acting, I still would not turn down an acting job. Still, auditions have always been literally HELL for me. To the point of nosebleeds and probably ulcers. Because of that I literally was searching for a way to be still be creative but not have to go to an audition for it. So, as I said earlier, I decided to teach myself how to write screen play and when my mother showed me the essay she wrote, something clicked and in a moment of self discovery it is when I started to deal with how we grew up and eventually looked at the short as the way to heal my family, other victims/survivors and myself. Yes, I have other screenplays I have written that REALLY need to be polished up because they are from YEARS ago, but yes, I do plan on continuing my writing.
ME: You had your film in the Palm Springs Shortfest. What was that experience like and how have audiences responded to your film?
FELIPE: "A Truth in Silence" was invited to participate in the Palm Springs Shortfest Market. It was not screened there. However, after completion last October, we were the official selection of the LA Latino International Film Festival which is an academy award qualifying festival as well as the Boston Latino International Film Festival. I am waiting to hear back from more festivals, but, I was just notified that we are a official selection of the LA International ShortFest which is yet another academy award qualifier. Academy award qualifier means that if "A Truth in Silence" wins in any of the categories, we could be nominated for an Oscar. Which in all honesty when starting the film I thought, "Where is a stage for film where the world will actually take domestic abuse and violence seriously?" The Oscars. So that was a goal of mine to get the visibility of the project on a global scale, because I believe it is the root of the problem cultures and societies face and a good way to help as many victims/survivors seek help or get therapy.
FELIPE CONT'D: I am very pleased with the response the film gets. The genuine intent of the film is to start that dialogue. It is the hardest thing for some people to talk about how they grew up, but the more you address it the more you are able to forgive, and understand why you are the way you are. Why you do the things you do sometimes? Why you are depressed or why you have anxiety issues. Why you turn to drugs or alcohol to escape from stress or pressures of life. I am not anti-drug or anti-booze by all means, and do believe in the live and let live, but while studying myself it was apparent all of my issues stem from how I grew up. Believe me, last year was the worst year of my life, but also the best, because I feel now that I can be of help to people where at most of the time I have felt helpless or useless (from the years of being told that). People have come up to me and told me "This is how I grew up. Thank you for speaking about it." then we get into a conversation about how we all as victims/survivors can take the steps to help heal one another and those around us. This is exactly what I want the film to do.
ME: What is your next project?
FELIPE: Currently I am working on the feature for "A Truth in Silence". I also have a lot of projects I wrote over the the past 8 years. It is a matter of polishing them off. One of them is a sci-fi feature that dives into what would happen if the gay gene were found, and if governments attempted to eradicate it from society. Besides that I have a love story I wrote based on a relationship that could not be because of circumstance. The circumstance in this relationship was distance.
Photo of Vanessa Garcia from 'A Truth in Silence'.
Interview by Vanessa McMahon