Filmmaker Statement

I’ll start by introducing myself . My name is Estefania de la Chica but nobody calls me Estefania (only my mum when she’s angry); most people call me Fany, which is my nickname. I am from a small city called Jaen in the South of Spain (Andalusia). I come from a matriarchal family. I brought up amongst inspiring women, and this, in turn, has had a similar effect on me. I was able to study due to scholarships and I am the first person in my family to study at a university and to live abroad. My work has benefited from my cultural roots, from others art discipline; but what my filmmaking really benefit from is from my life experiences and from the STRUGGLE. This film tells a personal story which I lived when I was a child. The family is portrayed in the short film is similar to my family. I wanted to make comedy out of the drama. I created an imaginative world where the two sisters believe they can ask God for everything they want. Most of the characters are non-actors and the locations are real (for example I filmed in the school where I studied! ). The big challenge was to direct the sisters. In real life, Maria and Irene were friends, but not sisters. They never acted before and it was difficult for them to keep the concentration on set. The most difficult scene was the one with the communion dress where Maria (Alba in the film) needed to cry. The project is important because expresses misconceptions of religion for a kid. From the point of view of Alba, we can understand how a kid normally reacts to death or the feeling of guiltiness. The two sisters adapted the dialogue depending on what was really their understanding of each situation. In order, to make the film, I thought in using long symmetrical shots to introduce the strict world where Alba lives; a world full of rules. When the mother leaves and the grandfather dies, these rules, break. The uncle takes care of the sisters and everything starts to be a mess. In this part of the film, the camera is handheld and the editing is fast to highlight the chaotic situation. I want the audience to embark in this story with Alba, to laugh but also feel pity for her. The film won a College Emmy Award from the Television Academy Foundation - to the project. The film hasn't been premiered yet. My cinematic aspirations are to become the first Hispanic woman nominated for an Oscars. Only one woman won the best director award in the history of the Oscars. My influences as a filmmaker come from directors like Pedro Almodovar, Buñuel, Bergman and Maya Deren.