HARLEY officially released in the U.S. and Canada

HARLEY is officially out in the United States and Canada! You can find the film on all major VOD platforms such as Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Youtube, Microsoft Xbox, Vimeo, VUDU.

What a journey it has been. It started with the belief that we had a story with heart and a massive amount of risk-taking. This project was driven with the willingness of one man, Harley Breite, to embark on a quest to conquer his own insecurities in the search for unrequited love.

When I started working on this documentary film, I immediately thought of Don Quixote, one of my favorite books. We tend to see Don Quixote as a delusional knight tilting at windmills in his quest for Dulcinea, an imaginary woman. But for me, Don Quixote was truly alive as long as he was on a quest and he died when he gave up.

I identify with him, because I have always been on a quest. So I was lucky to join Harley Breite, a criminal defense attorney in New Jersey, on his own to prove himself and hold in his arms the woman of his dreams. We were no alone on this journey as many artists helped us make HARLEY: Lila Place, the editor; Nick Strini, the director of photography, Max Avery Lichtenstein, the composer who captured the complexities of Harley in his soundtrack; Maia Carolina, the editor of trailer; German Nocella and Daff Schneydher, who graded the film; Federico Moreira, who made it sound good, @Guille Lawlor, who created all the Rocky-inspired tiles and designed the poster with the powerful portrait of Harley after his brutal MMA fight taken by Fábio Erdos.

When we thought we had made our dreams come true with a selection to the Tribeca Film Institute Festival in 2020, Covid-19 hit. The festival was cancelled and our distribution strategy crumbled. It was nearly a knockout punch for a small production like ours, but we got back up with the help of Lowell Shapiro and Mike Dill at Black Box Management who breathed new life into the project and opened up new horizons for HARLEY with Matt Shanfield, James Guido and others at IPC. And then came Gravitas Ventures brought on board by the film's agent Andrew Herwitz.

We are here today thanks to all of them and to many more. When we wrapped up the production, Harley, the protagonist of the film, gave me an old copy of Don Quixote written by Cervantes. It is a precious gift because every time I have doubts about my own quest in documentary filmmaking, I can open it up and read the quote I chose to open HARLEY: “The greatest madness a man can be guilty of in this life, is to let himself die outright, without being slain by any person whatever, or destroyed by any other weapon than the hands of melancholy”.

Enjoy the film. I hope you will find something in Harley’s quest that speaks to you too.

HARLEY released on January 25, 2022!

As we remember the Capitol riots a year ago, meet Harley, the lawyer of Capitol rioter Scott Fairlamb. My documentary film HARLEY will be released on January 25 and is available on pre-order on iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/harley/id1600773467

Finishing up editing my new film IN THE CROWD

When I left my job at the Swiss daily newspapers Tribune de Geneve and 24 Heures 3 months ago, I wanted to finish a film I had been working on for the past 4 years.

I reached that goal yesterday. The documentary is not completely done but it is close. It tells the story of a wild and brutal murder of a young fan by a crowd at half-time of a major soccer derby in Argentina. Originally, I just wanted to write the script and give it to an editor, but I quickly figured out it would make more sense to edit the film myself because the complex story structure required me to try out building the scenes to see if the script worked.

I kept going until yesterday. I had never edited a feature film before. But after all these years working with exceptional editors on my films, I felt ready to do so. For the past 3 months, I edited every single day from dawn until dusk. I went back to Argentina this month to shoot a scene in a prison that almost got canceled a few hours before I was about to shoot it. But journalism is the art of adapting quickly to a situation or to an environment and I was able to rescue this scene. And this past Sunday, I was finally able to export the rough cut of the film. I can't describe the sense of achievement I felt at that moment.

If you have ever been in a stadium during a soccer game, I believe this film will speak to you. Among the many highlights of the documentary, you will be able to watch Mario Kempes, who won the World Cup in 1978 and who is one of the most important soccer players in Argentina alongside Maradona and Messi. The murder took place in the stadium bearing Kempes' name in Cordoba and the opportunity to interview him was a special moment for me.

This film was made possible by many people, starting with my friend German Nocella, an incredible director of photography who believed in this crazy project 4 years ago, and also Lila Place, a truly exceptional editor with whom I learned a lot about editing while she edited 2 of my films. I would like to also mention Yannick Constantin, Agustin Barrigo and Elia Lyssy, who shot some of the images you will be able to discover in the film next year.

This project started in Montevideo in May 2017 when I met Kevin Gissi, a Swiss-Argentinian soccer player who suggested I should make a film on the Argentinian Barra Bravas (hooligans). And so I did. There are some incredible characters in this film. And I am forever indebted to 2 families for trusting me and for sharing their story with me. I will write more about them and about the film soon. So stay tuned.

The Mario Kempes stadium where we shot IN THE CROWD in Cordoba, Argentina.

RIP Wilfredo

The world lost a beautiful and courageous soul yesterday. Wilfredo Macario died of Covid-19 on August 16, 2021, in Quetzaltenango, in Guatemala. In 2013, Wilfredo and his family welcomed me into their home and agreed to share their painful story for my film LA PRENDA (The Pawn). This film premiered at Hot Docs and screened everywhere because their story and their resilience were so powerful and I am forever indebted to them. As a documentary filmmaker, the best result you can achieve is to take good care of the story you have been gifted by courageous people like Astrid, Wilfredo and the entire Macario family. I hope to that day I did it. Let me share this short piece I put together so that hopefully, you can get a glimpse of this man's big heart. RIP Wilfredo.

Featured in Twilight Talks on CUNY TV

On Tuesday March 26, 2019, I was interviewed by Kevin Moore for his talk show Twilight Talks on CUNY TV. We discussed the kind of documentary films I do, the role of a journalist dealing with a tragedy, the current administration, etc. I hope you will be able to check it out here.

Stray Bullet making headlines in Switzerland

Should a film aim to bypass festivals and be released directly on Netflix? This is the question the major Swiss daily newspaper 24 Heures asked Jean-Cosme Delaloye, the director of STRAY BULLET. His response was unequivocally yes for his latest film. Since STRAY BULLET was released on Netflix, the feedback has been huge. It is incredible to see on Twitter the amount of people the film touched and how far it has traveled in the U.S. One of the main participants of the film has been invited to give talks to college students. People, who had relatives hurt by stray bullets, reached out to us. It has been an unbelievable experience to witness how wide the audience for this film has been. Some films might be more suited for festivals like Jean-Cosme Delaloye’s previous film - LA PRENDA - had been. But the Netflix release has been absolutely fantastic for STRAY BULLET. If you have not watched the film here, you can do so here.

La Prenda [The Pawn] broadcast on Swiss TV

When you start working on a documentary film, you have to be ready for a marathon during which you will have to deal with highs, lows, intense emotions, rejections, frustrations, anguish, excitement. You will have to hustle, convince, think, imagine, find solutions and take risks. 

I  started working on LA PRENDA - THE PAWN six years ago. At the time, I had just finished BY MY SIDE, a film I produced myself. I was screening it at the Icaro Festival in Guatemala in November 2011 when I decided to do a follow up on an audio documentary on kidnappings in Guatremala I had done for Swiss Public Radio. I met Rodolfo Diaz, a lawyer of the Sobrevivientes Foundation. He was representing the family of Kelly Diaz, a teenager who had been kidnapped for a ransom and ultimately been killed.

Kelly Diaz. 

When I heard about the brutality of that case, I thought that it would have made headlines around the world if it had happened in the US or in Europe. Before she was killed, Kelly had been tortured and raped. Her pelvis had been fractured. Her body was found days later in the woods. 

@ElQuetzalteco

I decided to start doing a film on Kelly's story, without thinking twice about it. The next morning, I hired a cameraman and we drove 4 hours through Guatemala to Quetzaltenango, where I met with Karin Gramajo. Karin is Kelly's cousin and she has been fighting for justice for Kelly for the past 7 years despite the threats she has had to deal with. Karin should have been a lawyer but could not afford to finish her studies. So she helps people with their legal fights against the widespread impunity in Guatemala. If Karin hadn't agreed to be in La Prenda, there would have been no film. But she did agree and we embarked on an incredible journey together.

Karin Gramajo in Quetzaltenango.

We were soon joined by Astrid Elias, a courageous young woman living in Los Angeles, who had been kidnapped and raped as a child in Guatemala. I remember the call I received one day from Azalea Vazquez, a witness in Astrid's political asylum case in Los Angeles. Azalea had heard I was looking for another case of kidnapping for my film and she decided to reach out to me. In a documentary film, there are moments like that. You feel you are stuck because the story is so sensitive that people can't share it. And suddenly a door opens. Thanks to Azalea, I was able to speak with Andrea Garcia, Astrid's lawyer, and with Astrid herself. Astrid is a shy young woman, who had been kidnapped and raped in Quetzaltenango when she was 14 years old. After a ransom was paid by her family, she was released and stayed at her grandparents' home without leaving. Once she started going out again a year later, she was threatened again. So her parents who lived in Los Angeles, decided to make her come to the United States with her younger sister. But Astrid was caught by the border patrol while she was trying to cross into the United States and she was facing deportation when I first met her.  While fighting for her life, she decided to let me document her ordeal. 

Astrid at the 2016 FIFDH in Geneva. ©Miguel Bueno, FIFDH

Andrea Garcia, Astrid's lawyer, at the FICG in Los Angeles. ©Juan Tallo, FICG in LA

In a world where journalists are under constant attack and ignorantly labeled as fake news by some people, Astrid gave me the opportunity to go to the bottom of her story over the next 2 years. When she was facing deportation, we were there. When she was praying for a reprieve, we were there. When she went to her final court hearing, we were there. Her family embraced us. They showed us a courage I have seldom been exposed to. They trusted with a story, their story.

Estella and Alberto, Astrid's parents, on the red carpet of the FICG in LA at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. ©Juan Tallo, FICG in LA

A film is a team. And thanks to all the people who decided to work on it, produce it, support it and finance it, we were able to get it done in 2 years. The response has been incredible. It premiered in 2015 at Hot Docs and at the prestigious Guadalajara Film festival.  It screened in some of the best festivals in the world such as Thessaloniki, Mill Valley, Havana, FIFDH, San Sebastian. It screened at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, at Lincoln Center in New York as part of the Women in the World Summit. Astrid got to share the stage with Meryl Streep, America Ferrara, Microsoft exec Brad Smith and many others. The film won several awards and it is still going around the world as part of the FIFDH on tour. Last month, it screened in Guatemala and sparked a debate on human rights and justice with a Guatemalan Supreme Court judge. 

Despite its big success in festivals, it took time for La Prenda - The Pawn to be broadcast on TV. That changed on May 14, 2018, as the film screened on Swiss Public Television RTS in Switzerland. As a filmmaker, I feel I finally reached the end of the marathon of La Prenda. I can let this film go even if Kelly, Astrid, Micaela and their families will always remain in my heart.

Sobrevivientes lawyer Rodolfo Diaz, Jean-Cosme Delaloye (director of La Prenda), Astrid Elias and Luisa Ballin at the FIFDH in Geneva. ©Miguel Bueno, FIFDH. 

As a documentary filmmaker, you never stop running. But you will always cross paths with people that inspire you and push you forward. My next goal is to finish my new film's marathon. I am getting close to it as we will announce a major US release for Stray Bullet in the next few weeks. 

The family of 12-year-old Genesis Rincon celebrating her birthday a few months after her death. Scene from Stray Bullet.