Episode 05: My Mexican Bretzel with Nuria Giménez
In this episode, we feature a conversation with Nuria Giménez, the director of My Mexican Bretzel (2020).
My Mexican Bretzel is Nuria’s debut feature-length film made entirely from her grandfather's home footage; Super 8 and 16mm films from the 1950s and 1960s are juxtaposed with excerpts from a diary to reveal the inner thoughts of Vivian Barrett.
The film is a personal reflection where love, desire, and death are explored. Through personal archives, we become privy to Vivian's seemingly aspirational lifestyle - skying in the Alps during winter and sailing the Mediterranean during the Summer. The footage is contrasted with her journal entries, where she reveals her concerns and observations, allowing a nuanced and intimate reading of the images.
It is an excellent film; one of those rare experiences with cinema when as soon as the film ends, you feel compelled to re-watch again from the beginning. Out of pure admiration, we invited the filmmaker to speak with us about her process. In addition to her generous insight into the making of My Mexican Bretzel, we also discuss her previous short film, Kafenio (2017), which the filmmaker kindly made available to stream on Docs in Orbit.
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ACCOMPANYING TREATS
Earlier Work by Nuria Giménez • KAFENEIO • 29 minutes
SYNOPSIS: Kafeneios are an institution in Greece. Old Greek men sit there for hours drinking coffee, beer and ouzo, smoking, playing cards, watching TV, sharing their thoughts or just looking through the window. It is a place where they seem to feel safe and protected from the difficulties of the world outside. This film does not only want to be a portrait about them, but also a reflection about the experience of filming and being filmed, the way we represent reality and the reasons that move us to do so. They feel safe being there. I feel safe filming them.
FESTIVALS: DocumentaMadrid 2017 and MIDBO 2017
Available to screen, courtesy of the filmmaker.
Work Related to My Mexican Bretzel by Nuria Giménez
Trailer
ABOUT THE DIRECTORS / Nuria Giménez
Born in 1976, Spain, Giménez studied Journalism, International Relations and Documentary Film. After her studies, she improved her knowledge of filmmaking by attending masterclasses and seminars of filmmakers such as Virginia García del Pino, Wang Bing and Stephen Frears. She directed her first documentary short, KAFENEIO, in 2017. It screened at Documenta Madrid and Bogota Documentary IFF. MY MEXICAN BRETZEL (2019) is her first feature.