With a name like ‘Cinerado,’ you know there’s going to be a geographic focus to a lot of what I do here. I try to highlight as many Colorado-native and Colorado-based filmmakers as possible, and this year’s Starz Denver Film Festival has a cinematic buffet of their works available.
One of the finest films from that buffet I’ve screened ahead of the festival is “Postales,” by Boulder-based writer-director Josh Hyde. The film centers on two sets of siblings: Peruvian brothers (the postcard-selling Pablo and the “playboy” pickpocket Jano) and American sisters (the curious Mary and discotheque-ready Elizabeth), brought together in Cuzco, Peru, by circumstances beyond their control.
Josh was kind enough to answer some questions about the film, his Colorado connections and what we can expect from him in the future. “Postales” will be shown as part of the festival’s Spotlight on Colorado at the following times:
— 3:45 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, at Denver FilmCenter/Colfax
— 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8, at Starz FilmCenter/Tivoli
— 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8, at Starz/Tivoli
Click here for more information about “Postales” and to buy tickets.
Here’s the Q&A:
Q. What first brought you to Peru? What is it about the stories of the people of Cuzco that intrigued you initially?
A. When I graduated from Southern Illinois University, I decided to make a documentary with my film school buddy, Dan Fischer. The short documentary, “Despacho,” was about a cultural exchange of western medicine and traditional shamanic techniques. Along the way of shooting this film we discovered the street kids of Peru and members of the Cuzco film community which eventually turned into our Peruvian Co-Producer, Tambo Film Outfitters, headed by Maxim Holland. We made a short film based off of the feature film idea for “Postales” and then eventually garnered enough support through various script labs and festivals to make “Postales.”
Above these experiences, Cuzco is the perfect setting for a story about cultural understanding through future generations due to the bloody history of Spanish conquest. The streets where we shot the film were places where battles were fought between the Spanish and the Inca for control of the city and the gold. Most people will never notice this, while watching the film, but I think it adds an extra dimension of depth and significance to the story.
Q. How long have you lived in Colorado? What do you like best about the region?
A. I’ve been coming out to Colorado to visit my father since I was 13. So I’ve always had a relationship with the Rockies and then two years ago I got the chance to move out to Boulder. I was living in Brooklyn and the mountains started calling my name, along with other family responsibilities. So, I decided to try and live an work out of Boulder. Most of the time, I’m either in Boulder writing my scripts or traveling to work as a freelance flimmaker on the East Coast.
Q. With specific regard to “Postales,” what were the challenges of casting for Peruvians and Americans?
A. In the casting, we wanted to replicate the conflict of languages and cultures existing within the story. So, we cast non-acting indigenous Peruvians to play against SAG actors from the U.S. to represent the two opposing worlds. In this way, we tried to create a collision of acting cultures on screen, the purity of the non-actors versus the preparation and technique of seasoned actors. With the SAG actors, the challenge was to remove their acting tools or tricks to be more natural and spontaneous. With the Non-Actors, it was a matter of doing acting workshops to teach very minimal acting skills, being around a camera and a crew of up to 50 people, and then shaping the scenes to fit into the world of Cuzco, Peru.
From there, we then rehearsed the scenes with the Non-Actors in the locations where the scenes would be shot, all the time to build comfort and confidence. Then of course, when the American cast arrived, we used the very real effect of the altitude on the human body to help them live their characters, more than act them.
In retrospect, it was a lot to take on for my first feature film, and it was a great learning experience for me as a director that I can continue to build on in my future films.
Q. “Postales” presents a great collection of moments of Cuzco’s city life, many seemingly unscripted. Did you set aside days just to roam with the camera for those moments, or did you just capture them as they happened while shooting the dialogue-heavy, actor-driven scenes?
A. Due to the spontaneous nature of the city and the production, my cinematographer, Dan Fischer, and I made a rule for getting all of the “spirit of place” shots for Cuzco. The rule was simple: Steal the shots when you can … before a take, after a take, between takes. In this way, we were able to amass a lot of shots that we were able to use later. And then of course, we had a day and a night to shoot the necessary wide shots that we thought we would need. The big advantage we had was having an editor on set. Our editor, Evan Smith, was cutting while we were shooting so that in the end we knew how many extra pick-up shots we’d need to get before we had to leave the country. This was our safety net. Well, at least that’s what we told ourselves.
Q. How did you approach working with the young actors? What was the experience like?
A. Rehearsals, rehearsals, rehearsals. That’s all I can say and then knowing when enough is too much. Above this, casting is really important because you can begin to see what kind of actor you’ll be working with and how much you can push them or how much they will save you as a director due to their talent. This goes for both the non-actors and the actors.
Q. Aside from festivals and press for “Postales,” what are you working on now? What’s next after this?
A. Right now, I’m helping produce, shoot and edit a feature documentary on the recent Haitian elections titled “Sweet Micky for Prezidan.” The director is a good friend of mine and I believe in the story. I’m sending out a couple new scripts now. “Crutches” is an action love story with a dark comedy edge. It’s about a Korean hitman who falls in love with a dark suicidal stripper on crutches. For me, the story is about how two people find each other through love in a violent and chaotic world. The next script is a spiritual stoner comedy with Tai Chi, Deepak Chopra, and two friends from film school who owe each other money. I won’t go any further as it’s really, really, really good. The documentary will be out in the next year and the two scripts we’re trying to find the financing.
Q. If there’s anything else you’d like to add about any aspect of creating “Postales” or the process of getting it seen, feel free to share.
A. I guess that I never really knew what I was signing up for when I started the journey. I thought it was me who picked the story, but today I realize more and more the story picks the storytellers who are the most qualified to tell the story. By qualified, yes, I mean with the skill, but more importantly the intention and integrity to guide and shape the story. Many components of the film are based on real stories we heard while making two previous films in the Andes. Over the 10 years we spent filmmaking in Peru, the country became like a second home to us and the friends we made became our extended family. “Postales” became a way for us to write a love letter to Cuzco and to tell a uniquely Peruvian story through the lens of indigenous Peruvians.
I hope people enjoy the film. And I’m thankful to the Starz Denver Film Festival for programming the film.
Chris,
we’re happy you enjoyed the film.
Josh