Episode 06: El Father Plays Himself with Mo Scarpelli
In this episode, we feature a conversation with Mo Scarpelli about her most film El Father Plays Himself (2020).
El Father Plays Himself is a dual-character study of a father-and-son relationship. The film follows Venezuelan director Jorge Armand as he returns to Venezuela to make a fiction film about his father's troubled past in the Amazonian jungle's illegal goldmines.
The film premiered this year at Visions du Reel, winning a special mention by the jury in the Best International Feature Competition. It is an incredibly intense and powerful film often described by critics as riveting, sensitive, compelling, and provocative.
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ABOUT THE FILM / EL FATHER PLAYS HIMSELF
SYNOPSIS : While Jorge left Venezuela as a child, his father remained there. In a country that he struggles to recognise, the son is now directing a fictional film (La Fortaleza, Jorge Thielen Armand) about the troubled past of this genitor in the illegal goldmines of the Amazonian jungle. With determination, El FatherPlays Himself draws a portrait of a complex filial relationship and shifting power balance.
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ABOUT THE DIRECTORS / Mo Scarpelli
Mo Scarpelli is an Italian-American director and cinematographer of nonfiction cinema.
Mo's film ANBESSA premiered at the Berlinale 2019, where it was nominated for the Crystal Bear (Generations KPlus) and the Glashütte Documentary Prize. The film went on to screen at IDFA, Human Rights Watch FF London, Hot Docs, DOC NYC, and many other festivals and broadcast with ARTE in France and ZDF in Germany.
Mo's first film, FRAME BY FRAME (SXSW 2015, Hot Docs, BFI London Film Festival, and 100+ other festivals), garnered 15+ jury and audience awards and a Cinema Eye Honors nomination.
Mo is a selection of Berlinale Talents 2018, twice receiving Catapult Film Fund support, and has received the Speranza Female Filmmaker Award. Her documentary short work includes directing EL HARA (NYJFF 2018) and SURVIVING KENSINGTON (Vimeo Staff Pick 2017) and serving as a cinematographer on films including SPEAKING IS DIFFICULT (Sundance 2016).