Private Project

Bernie

Xochitl wants to tend to her garden in peace. Her pesky neighbor Bernie has other plans. He instead, tries to make a move on her. What follows is a game of cat and mouse that is not at all, what it seems.

  • Luis Blackaller
    Director
  • Xochitl Romero
    Writer
  • Luis Blackaller
    Producer
  • Xochitl Romero
    Producer
  • Bernardo Cubria
    Producer
  • Xochitl Romero
    Key Cast
    "Xochitl"
  • Bernardo Cubria
    Key Cast
    "Bernie"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    19 minutes 21 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    December 12, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    4,400 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    iPhoneX
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.40:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Luis Blackaller
Distribution Information
  • Luis Blackaller
Director Biography - Luis Blackaller

Luis Blackaller is an artist/filmmaker from Mexico City. He worked in films like Amores Perros and attended grad school at the MIT Media Lab. Once in LA, his focus has ranged from developing and producing narrative virtual reality, to directing independent short films and learning about the vibrant local zine culture. He recently started self-publishing his personal work and is currently exploring virtual production while developing ideas for serialized television.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Bernie is my first short film. As such, I wanted to prove that zero budget is not a limitation and that there is a lot more to Los Angeles than the traditional vantage point. I was immediately attracted by the script, focused on a female protagonist with no immediately likable features. This inspired me to set up a scenario where our seemingly vulnerable anti-heroine could deploy her cunning tactics from an entirely unreliable narrative perspective. I wanted to unleash Bernie’s misleading, fragile, rumor-like narrative as an urban legend, something you might have heard from a friend about someone else. To achieve this, I found inspiration in the Mexican Crime Pulp I grew up reading in the 1980s. I figured Bernie (and Xochitl) had escaped from the pages of El Libro Semanal, La Novela Policiaca or Casos de Alarma, bringing all that anxious agony along with them. In this world, unresolved crimes are nothing but chapters of a never ending circular arc.