By Liz Lopez
Rating: B+
Andrea Casaseca has written and directed the family drama short film, “It’s Me” (Era Yo), and in the 11 minute 30 seconds that I viewed the film, I could not help but want to know more of this family’s story. The three main characters are created such that the audience will know there is so much more going on with each one of them and by the end of the film, it feels like a gut punch when it is revealed what is going on with the youngest character. The story is great, and the cast is excellent in their performances.
This story shows how a teenage Maria (Maria Rivera), accompanied by other girls, talks to, harasses and offends another student of another ethnicity. She is disrespectful to her mother, played by Marta Belenguer (Asuntos de familia) and shows very little care or compassion toward her little brother Gabriel (Miguel Rivera, Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain & Glory/Dolor y Gloria).
Director’s Statement:
I needed to tell this story. The reason? Today we have become accustomed to the horrible words and behaviors of “bullying” and there is nothing worse than normalizing something that should be eradicated from society. This story gives a different perspective. A point of view to make us conscious to how prevelant and common place the language and behaviors of bullies has become. It goes further than the perpetrator and the harassed, in fact, my intention is to show how, when the pain is felt by someone we love who suffers this type of harassment, can be a wake up call. When someone bullies or hurts someone you care about, you may realize IT’S ME.
https://austinfilmfestival.com/festival-and-conference-aff/2019-film-schedule/
Source: Andrea Casaseca