Private Project

Fantasmas

A story that shows the problematic on homophobia in a truthful and poetic portrait.

  • Roberto Garza Rodriguez
    Director
  • Roberto Garza Rodriguez
    Writer
  • Daniel López Medrano
    Writer
  • Daniel López Medrano
    Producer
  • Andrés Rodríguez
    Key Cast
    "Fantasma, Adolescente"
  • Jesbel Echeverría
    First director assistant
  • Roberto Garza Rodriguez
    Director of Photography
  • Ana Sofia Fremont
    First camera assistant
  • David Castañeda
    Art director
  • Tonantzin Rueda
    Art assistant director
  • Roberto Garza Rodríguez
    Film editor
  • Mateo Vázquez
    Production assistant
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Fantasmas
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    6 minutes 30 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 30, 2019
  • Country of Origin:
    Mexico
  • Country of Filming:
    Mexico
  • Language:
    Spanish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes
  • Kinorum Film Festival
    MONTERREY
    Mexico
    April 5, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Neos Fest
    Puebla de Zaragoza, Puebla
    Mexico
    STAFF'S CHOICE
  • Haz Corto con la Corrupción
    Monterrey
    Mexico
    Official Selection
Distribution Information
  • Plot Films
    Distributor
    Country: Mexico
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Roberto Garza Rodriguez

Roberto Garo Es un director, productor y guionista regiomontano, actual estudiante de la Licenciatura en Producción Cinematográfica Digital en la Universidad de Monterrey.

Desde pequeño se involucró en las artes como el teatro, la música y la poesía para que luego de unos años tomara el rumbo del mundo cinematográfico con su primer cortometraje “Un Sueño Que Contar” (2015) obteniendo el premio “PLATINO” en Infomatrix Colombia, que organiza la sociedad latinoamericana de ciencia y tecnología (SOLACYT).

Ha recibido premios y selecciones en distintos festivales nacionales e internacionales como el premio “STAFF CHOICE” en Neos Fest México, en BoyOHboy (Francia) y en el festival VISIBLE (Panamá), por su cortometraje “Fantasmas” (2019). Su más reciente cortometraje “Perenne” (2020), lo ha llevado a competir en el Festival Internacional de Cine de Hidalgo a celebrarse en el presente año.

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Director Statement

"Fantasmas" was born from the existing discrimination in the world that labels people as "weird" and "strange".

When I first started developing the idea for the story I had no idea about the staggering numbers of deaths caused by homophobia, this really had an impact on me and motivated me to tell this story.

Investigating the subject was definitley the most challenging part of the process because from the start I didn't want to tell the typical queer story that has already been told a million times. My intention was to create a narrative based on real experiences, and for that I had to do a lot of investigation. Getting people to open up about their personal experiences with this type of violence was not easy at all, but once I managed to do it what I learned really surprised me. Pretty much everyone I talked to concluded in the same thing, they had been neglected, silenced, rejected from themselves; hatred and rejection had become everyday things. It was at this point in the development of the story that the concept of using the symbolism of a "ghost" was born, because of what it represents universally, people can empathize with this metaphor.

In film and television, great characters have always existed that are merely ghosts; these being a direct representation of death or spirits, and related to death, a tribute to those beings who are in the afterlife due to discrimination and violence. In itself, I took this image of the "ghost" and gave it a different meaning, I would even dare to say poetic. 
With this short film I wish to communicate the idea of what it feels like to be a ghost and reach out to people that have been labeled as "weird" in their lives, and they think that by hiding what they feel they will live unbothered by society. I want to send a message to those people that offers hope and desire to accept themselves as they are, whilst at the same time have this message work as a letter to those who discriminate. 

The concept and message of "FANTASMAS" is summarized by the following dialogue:

"Being a ghost means hiding from yourself, because being yourself is being human"