On January 19th, “Pepe Cáceres” will be released in Colombia, the film starring Sebastián Eslava, son of the renowned Colombian bullfighter, who also shares the role of director with filmmaker Camilo Molano Parra.
Considered the first Colombian figure in the world of bullfighting, Cáceres confused the search for love with that of recognition, in a clear need to be desired, and experienced a true feeling of satisfaction when facing the bulls, whom she considered her best and only friends.
The story of this noble and romantic character, from his childhood in Honda, next to his grandmother Clementina, to his great triumphs in Spain and Colombia, is collected in this film in which his own son, Sebastián Eslava, lends his skin and his taste for bullfighting to give him life, and somehow get closer to the man he met only through the stories and files he rescued in his research, since he died when he was barely two years old.
EL NUEVO SIGLO interviewed him to find out more details about the film and the experience of entering in his father’s secrets.
THE NEW CENTURY: How was that experience of being in the shoes of a father you didn’t know?
SEBASTIAN SLAVA: With a lot of responsibility. And to be able to give the best of this character, I had a lot of time to prepare, to investigate and I feel that he did it with a lot of professionalism, a lot of passion. It was quite a challenge.
ENS: How long did it take you to prepare to play the great bullfighter?
SE: They were years of production. The idea arose when I was about 20 years old, now I’m 37, and when I did it, I investigated both the writing of the script and the character.
ENS: Why did it take so long to make a movie?
SE: Cinema has its times, its characteristics are very complex. It is a world with a lot of art in which a lot of money is required. The movie really took the time it needed to be mature enough.
ENS: How did you go about recreating the character of a bullfighter of the stature of Pepe Cáceres?
SE: Reading all about him. I also listened to all the stories they told me; for example, my mom, my friends and other people told me about him. Let’s say that this is internalized and one somehow creates the character. Now, in the physical part, I did have to train a lot about bullfighting. I was in Spain for several months, I had the opportunity to be in front of the bulls and feel that fear, that adrenaline of being close to the animal. It is risking your life in the arena because at any moment these animals charge to kill, it is their nature. It was necessary to experience that sensation to be able to transmit it on the screen.
ENS: And did you like experiencing those kinds of emotions?
SE: Really if. Since I was a child I have always liked risky sports. That feeling of being there with the animal in front is very difficult to describe, but I realized that my dad is in my blood.
ENS: What was it that prompted you to make a film about your father?
SE: It was something very internal. It was an idea that crossed my mind years ago and that has been sustained over time. There was not a moment in my life that I did not have that idea in my head. So it was rather a spiritual need to connect with my dad, to heal the wound of his absence.
ENS: Did you fill the void that Pepe Cáceres left in your life?
SE: Yes, and the most interesting thing is that I managed to have confidence in myself. I think the film led me to realize that I am not “the son of…”, I am Sebastián Eslava, I am myself and I have been able to make peace with my father’s shadow.
ENS: After entering your father’s life, what marked you the most?
SE: All that self-esteem that he had, that ability to never feel below or above anyone. He was always characterized by being respectful, he was a very generous man with the people who loved him, he always wanted to help, he was a philanthropist and I think it was one of the most beautiful things I knew about him.
ENS: How would you describe this movie?
SE: Like the portrait of a man who managed to overcome the demons of his childhood, having a catharsis when facing a 500-kilo animal and dancing with fear. It is a film of self-improvement that, for example, has been a psychoanalyst’s work, where by investigating my father, knowing his secrets, his light, his darkness and embodying him, has allowed me to humanize him and free myself a bit from that ghost of the father figure. . I believe that my dad did the same through the bulls, somehow he was able to exorcise those childhood demons through his profession.
ENS: What was that process like to get to direct, or co-direct, with Camilo Molano?
SE: I had a very big ambition with this film, I wanted to have a director with international background. I finally decided to take the advice of Andy Baiz (“La cara oculta”, “Roa”, “Narcos”), who stressed that he would not release the address to anyone. It was then that I decided and asked Camilo Molano to accompany me, because it was a great challenge to direct and star.
ENS: The premiere is on the 19th of this month. What expectations do you have?
SE: Let people get the story of how we did it. That it touches their hearts and that they understand that it was in another era, that although it is a film about a bullfighter, it is the story of a man who was very important to Colombia.