INTERVIEW WITH WRITER/DIRECTOR JOSHUA MARSTON:
Have you screened this movie in Colombia?
Yeah, we premiered the movie in Colombia at the Cartagena Film Festival. And then about a month afterwards, we opened it theatrically on 30 screens. It still continues to play theatrically and it has been there going on three months now.
How does it play in front of that audience?
It plays very well. The interesting thing is that obviously Columbians know a little bit more going in about drug smuggling. You assume that they do. You come in with assumptions and yet, time and time again I’ve been waylaid by Colombians afterwards saying, “Oh my God, that was interesting,” because it’s something that was very eye-opening for them. All they ever get are headlines about this person or that person who was caught traveling at the border with drugs. But they never get the actual details of what it’s like to travel as a drug mule. We are very gratified on our part that we are able to bring something new to this, even to Colombians.
It’s been very warmly embraced by the First Lady of Colombia who has had two screenings at the Presidential Palace. The United Nations office there has requested to purchase a print for educational purposes. We even heard the story of someone who was 17 years-old who was supposed to go as a drug mule and saw the film two days before he was supposed to leave, and pulled out. He told us this whole story about how he considered the film to have changed his life.
When you hear a story like the kid who decided against smuggling drugs, that’s got to make you feel incredibly proud of your film.
For all of us who worked on the film, it makes us feel really proud and just sort of grateful that the film was able to do that. It’s very gratifying to know that film has this kind of power and is able to reach people on an emotional level and sort of open their eyes.
Did you encounter any resentment in Colombia since you are an America telling a very Colombian story?
No. It’s really funny. When I was preparing the film I lived in fear of that moment, of being accused of being a gringo coming in. And yet, by the time I was done with the film and brought it down to Colombia, it had sort of receded to the back of my mind. I was in Colombia doing all this press for the release of the film there and it wasn’t until we had been there for a couple of days that someone pointed out that the only question I was getting was how did an American come to be interested in Colombia. The subtext was that they were flattered that I would take an interest. No one has ever said anything about me being a foreigner, an outsider, commenting on Colombian society. It’s a sign that the collaboration worked in order to make the representation of Colombia feel authentic, even to Colombians.
Your film has won awards at film festivals and audiences really react positively to this story. As a first-time film director, doesn’t that set the bar high for your next feature? How do you live up to that?
This film was four-going-on-five years in the making. And what it says to me is that in order to do a really good film and have it really feel right and authentic and true, there is a certain amount of time you need to take in order to allow it to gestate and to grow. My hope is to not get caught up in rushing to the next project.
Was there a time during the four or five year process when you weren’t sure it was going to get made?
Oh yeah, all the time. I mean, when we were looking for financing, people would regularly read the script and respond positively and say they thought it was a really gripping and page-turning script. And then they would follow up with, “Gee, it’s a shame it’s in Spanish. Don’t you think you could do it in English?” To the point where someone actually said, “Well, what if Maria had a governess who had taught the family English?” They all wanted the project to be in English. But it was absurd. There were definitely a lot of moments where we just thought we weren’t going to be able to do it the way we wanted. And fortunately HBO stepped up to the plate.
PAGE 2: On Casting Catalina Sandino and Researching Drug Mules
