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Audiovisual producers meetings with the protagonists?Second season of podcast in QPS audiovisual,
The changes of the industry, thenew platforms, the challenges that come audiovisual
producers, encounters with the protagonists?Matías Sarilli is co- founder of the
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Lavan Rock production house, created intwo thousand twenty- two with Martin Gamaler.
He did series production tasks like desperatehousewives, epitaphs, two valentines,
the Argentine and brave, among others, and feature films like two friends and
a thief of Jaime Lozano, adate, a party and a black cat
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of Ana Jalabe and bitter rush ofGustavo Cova. In two thousand eleven he
founded Class B Cinema with two partnersin silver, producing documentaries, video clips
and Martin Bazterreth' s feature-length blind spot. In two thousand twelve
he joined Argentine film directors Dack tofound and form the audiovisual production department.
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As director of the Matías area,you had social communication studies and worked in
production management in series and for televisionin cinema. If he is a producer
by vocation or the path was takento you, indeed, and answering your
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question, I think it is done. In my case I went doing it.
I was a social communicator at theNational University of La Plata, in
the career of journalism, I trainedon radio, I was also an assistant
of audio- visual crater, twoaudiovisual workshops and there the production bichito was
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biting me little by little once Iemigrated to Federal Capital, being platense,
this labuando in an optics, sellingglasses to pay for the school tea to
image. I started that path that, as I told the executive producer who
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hired me in the first feature film, I told Mira, I didn'
t study cinema, I didn't study production. I love this world
and come to learn it. Ihave a lot of attitude, a lot
of personality, and I' mgoing to give it to you. Looks
like that speech convinced him and good. There I began as a meritorious production
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in that first film by Jaime Lozano, two friends and a thief, and
I began to learn justly from theexecutive producer, Horacio Maldonado. I know
Horacio Maldonado there, who is theSecretary General of Dak Apparently he gave me
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the skills to work in the audiovisualworld and I must admit that he was
my first teacher. He with himI began to understand a little of what
was going to be produced and Ibelieve that personality, my personality also helps
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me to enter that world, ofcoordination, of organization, of foreseeing the
quilombo that you will have. Ifyou have it, then I think it
seems to me that it was startedto do a job, that I was
training on the way And at whatpoint is born the need of the desire
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to found a producer of its own, the desire to form a producer.
The first producer that opened in thetwo thousand eleven, which was film class
with Martin Gamaler and Martin Basterreche wasborn from the need that I had finished
the contract in Polca. There wasnothing on the street. I was also
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accompanied by a separation. I wasliving together, you saw separation. I
went back to my old men's house. The crisis and the thirty
in my case, however, andjustly there is the possibility of having a
producer in silver. The silver forall those who do not know the city
of the Diagonals at that time,in two thousand eleven was a city where
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the audiovisual world was not yet developed. We saw that there was a very
large capacity that today has it withthe Cultural Institute, with the Government of
the Province of Buenos Aires, whichhas also put its eyes within the culture
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of the country. But at thattime we saw how there was a space,
a place that was not yet developed. So, from that we started
that producer. From the need andthe tools that I had production, that
Martin Gamaller had direction of photography andthat Martin Basterreche had direction, we were
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the three legs we were incolumned inmaking that producer that we made videoclips and
institutional documentaries, we all did wearone sometimes, when it has no work,
it starts to produce and leaves thosesleeves and that time to make productions
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that you are interested in. Andthere goes a blind spot. A production
we made in four weeks, twelvein five weeks, also independent film,
three weeks in La Plata and twoin Mar de Plata. It was very
interesting. I think that after newprojects, new horizons made that producer end,
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but we followed the three with verygood relationship and went deepening the path
of production. Yes, after vecineclass, the possibility of setting up the
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audiovisual production department of Dack, Argentinefilm directors that if you think about it,
no entity of copyright makes him Argentines, I don' t know sagai
a producer. Dack was the firstentity to have a fato producer at home.
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I started with a Nodbook, anidea that was to interview the directors
who soon premiered their films. Andthere I started with a camera that I
also operated, I asked the questionsto the directors, they called them Dack,
sat them there and an operator wholater edited the notes. And we
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did hit him there. It formswhat today the audiovisual world knows as a
program of directors, which today isour battle horse, it is like our
bit of sand, so that sothat the films for the most part or
the series that are on the SOTTsor on any digital platform, can have
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a little visibility and not only talkabout the series itself, but listen to
the director to the protagonist, whofor us is the protagonist. Of course,
then it seems to me that thisprogram has been going on for more
than ten years, a lot ofdirectors interviewed and today it has a particular
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dynamic. Nothing already I, obviously, the group within the production department grew,
I already delegated the program to directorsalready produced it for a long time,
so today my colleagues are producing it. But the truth is that many
things have been done within an age. They also generate productions like those that
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premiered at the Mar del Plata Festival. From the movies, he goes to
school. Film goes to school isan incredible project that invites all listeners who
can enter YouTube. There is thedocumentary we made of the Dak Foundation where
it shows the work the Foundation doesin schools that are in forgotten places in
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the Argentine Republic. I could tellyou where maybe we, who saw here
in capital, have the chance toimagine ourselves in the movies. We went
to the movies, there are peoplethat kids who never were a movie theater.
The Foundation then recreates a cinema roombringing together several schools in the countryside
or rural areas. Maybe choose aplace repaired from the light, cover the
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windows, put a projector, putspeakers and pass national cinema. That activity
that the Foundation does. At onepoint we started filming it as a documentary
because it seemed to us that therewas a lot of information that you don
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' t know how to transmit itwith words. Sometimes the words are short
and we need that audiovisual work thatcan transmit them. And we felt that
today you see it for free onYouTube and you see the baby statement.
We sometimes bring directors or actors sothat after that movie that is going to
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be screened, so that then thechildren, or the children or the adolescents
can ask them clear questions. Inthe documentary there is a part that left
fire to me. A baby tellsher to ask the actress that but you
hadn' t died and the actressisn' t makeup. It' s
maquille I mean, it' snot fiction, he says, but you
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have blood It' s make-up. Then there it puts you in
a place you say Wow, howimportant is cinema and to carry the cinema
not only as something identity of ourcountry, which is also important, but
also how. How important are thesecinematographic spaces where our cinemas pass throughout the
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country, and the function that thefoundation of age fulfills is spectacular, yes,
outwards and inwards of the entity.But, well, that' s
a subject of another conversation. Inviteme, invite me to discuss it with
Fury. Lavan Rock was inaugurated asa feature film producer in two thousand twenty
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- four, with the media beingdirected by Martín Gamaler, who is co
- founder of the production company.The expansion plans they have contemplate other filmmakers
to refer to with other filmmakers.Well, it' s not producing here.
Sure or the producer if you wanta good question. Today we do
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not consider it, but I neversay no and never made the doors to
anything. The truth is, it' s one. We find range,
is that our second society did itmore than anything to give a structure to
what it is. And we're already working on the second project.
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If we know, we want togo with small steps, but those little
steps are safe. If I didn' t dare accept a project another director,
for example, for being not sosure I could support it, because
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let' s not forget that Ihave a job. Luckily, I have
a day job. So in thoseI applied for a license, for example,
in my work to make this,this movie that was in record time
and I, if I get intoa project I get into a hundred and
ten percent because you can' t, as maybe it has happened to me
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in other productions where I didn't have so much interference, but was
more employed as a production assistant.Whatever it is, where you see an
executive producer who has several projects inhis hand and the one who very much
the boat little tightens and I've seen it and when I don'
t know you burn with milk yousee a cow that you cry. I
prefer to take small steps, butsurely the day we are better prepared,
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the day we devote more time toit. Of course, we love it.
I think we have very good dynamicswith Martin and Gama. I feel
that the pre- production we didin between, which was in rich time
I today rebound a little bit andit was crazy because, although Martin had
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gained a little time with regard tothe breakdown and the filming plan, I
entered to produce a movie a monthearlier. A month earlier I moved home
directly. It' s just,of course, I left my bitch with
my parents and said ranges. Wemoved in. I' m moving into
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your house. We barked twenty-four seven and we pulled him out and
your great one was barbaric. Thereyou realize the importance of recording, of
leaving federal capital, of recording inthe province of Buenos Aires. Recorded inside.
It' s also not the casewith this film, but I'
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ve recorded inside and nothing anymore.The reaction of the neighbors is different.
Locations open the doors more. Obviously, you don' t want to take
an economic advantage of that, butthe predisposition is already another in federal capital,
forgive me for the term. You' ll fart and get paid.
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One' s already used to it. But I say good this we have
a spectacular country besides, to record, to sign, spectacular things, to
tell our own story. And well, and hopefully I' ll give it
to you in the future, whatline you' re interested in exploring,
approaching as a producer, what profileyou' re looking to give to the
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producer. I' d love thisin between. It' s a drama
in between. The press, it' s a drama, a drama that
speaks of the end of childhood ofa ten- year- old boy.
The next movie is comedy. Iknow comedy is very difficult for me,
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the hardest genre of all, butwell, I' m not afraid of
it. I think it sounds likea genre I love, because we read
scripts with Martin and laugh at thesame things. We have quite a mood.
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He' s talking bad and soonlike that about the astrologers. I
' m a pound, he's an aries. We are complementary opposites.
Ah look at Gama, then wecall ourselves very well. But I
would also love to have the experiencein Epitafios Dos, a co- production
with Polka Hbo where I was alsoa participant in Rull Amargo, the film,
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the cop we made with Gustavo CoA. I love the cop, I
love the Sthiller, I love thechirombo, the shots, the chases.
There is something of that that appealsto me that is not common in cinema
nor is it common in national cinema. And I think they' re genres
that you don' t have toescape that you don' t have to
have the fears, although, obviously, sometimes there are budgets that allow it
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or not. Well, there's the producer to get in there and
a dealer. Sure, well,what' s the most challenging aspect of
producer work. The most challenging aspect. I think it' s something that
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happens to me that I take asa self- criticism and not as it
is. I' m very horizontal. Yes, and sometimes I' ll
quote him to Horatio. Horatio tellsme you' re very horizontal. You
need a little verticality, and you' re right. But also that'
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s why I complement very well withHoratio, where he is very vertical.
I' m more horizontally cursed.Yes, I hug, not I one,
I fight this one because it seemsto me that cinema is a collective
end also if you have to trustall the area heads and all the equipment
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that has those daily heads. Soit seems to me that a producer'
s greatest challenge is just to havethe ability and temperament and patience for everyone
to live relatively together so it's not going to be a story to
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make all this film that we're going to make, but we have
the possibility to debate it, toexpress ourselves and I think that also a
talent of a producer has to seethe play that' s going to happen
in the future. It seems tome that foresight is fundamental. I always
put in my production designs what isthe worst scenario in every day. What
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if it rains we have to goto coverage, what if an actor missed,
because it usually happens. What's wrong? If it' s
missing, I don' t knowan action vehicle, what happens. That
is, all the time you haveto foresee what will happen, because not
everything will go as you planned anddreamed in pre- production, then you
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have temperament and cold head to solvein those moments is fundamental for a producer,
fundamental if you have a personality where, instead of solving a problem,
you insult or maltreat a co-worker because I have seen it my own
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eyes and you do not have theability to ok we solve and then we
talk. You and me in private. There are many producers that I'
ve seen that stay spinning like acalecita and do not resolve angry by the
mistake that had, the mistake ofothers, the error of that you volute.
Then it seems to me that youhave to think cold about how to
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solve at that moment, because youhave eight hours, forty- five to
film and then you see how Isolve that if nothing. Obviously, sometimes
there is always the possibility of havinga hand- to- hand chat to
see because there are people who workand who can work on one project better
than on another. But I thinktemperament, cold head and ability to solve
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always work and that' s thebiggest challenge for absolutely good. I also
suppose this thing of getting a projectto come true, not that. It
is also those typical achievements that theproducer sometimes does not. I' m
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not saying. The producer can belooking for the tools. Yes, looking
for the tools, but sometimes whatI was going to mention is that sometimes
I see in between and see ajob done. Yes, but rarely do
I stop to think that' sgood, what we did. This was
good, we did it in recordtime Look, what' s this?
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You understand the technical quality, thephotography and that was obviously work of a
group of people who worked on thesame goal and sometimes you don' t
repair what you did, but it' s good. Okay, next.
You have to get living room,do ju come out in jump and sometimes
you have to stop the ball andsay that good this what we did,
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what a good achievement we had.I don' t know if I answered
your question. No, yes,you answered him now. While listening to
you, I thought that there isalso a vertigo that has been generated in
the production, circulation, consumption ofaudiovisual products. No, then, that
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space of reflection must also be difficultto find. Not because at the moment,
well, we have to put outthe fire. This yes, yes,
of course, of course, Ibelieve that once you know the fire,
that' s why my psychologist paysyou once a week, listen to
me Julia Therapy. Well, allright, all right. Okay, no,
but, well, everyone will findtheir own space. You go to
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the gym. I' m goingswimming, I' m going swimming.
In my moment of nothing, Idon' t want anything in my head.
And that moment where I dive intonothing. Yes, they say swimming
is very suitable for that because youjust don' t think what you do
in other sports or other sports practices, everyone will have their fetish let'
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s say, One knows how torun, others, go out to exercise
others. I do not know withthe rise of streaming platforms and changes in
distribution models, how you see thefuture of independent films looking in this current
government. I see it very black. I think there' s place every
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time, there' s less placeevery time, that is, there'
s less and less place in Argentineculture. And if we spin more finite
and I go to your question aboutindependent cinema, there are two places.
I think that in the last tenyears I would tell you the independent cinema
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grew a lot, but it grewa lot because of the amount of technological
growth that there was in these lastten years or more then, on the
one hand, you say good check. I don' t need an arri
to film a movie. Today Ineed a total photo camera to record four
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k. Two k. It's good for me to buy but it
seems to me that the distribution ofthe films I, for example, am
going to make self- referential,obviously, but the distribution of the independent
films have little place inside. No. I currently have the pro that while
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we had to cinema Tren as adistributor, we got little rooms. But,
well, I' m going tocount an incidence. But one always
cares more about one' s ownproject than one, that you can hire
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to worry about your projects. Whatdo I mean? I paid for Train
cinema to be in most of thecountry' s living room. I was
in a few, but I hada week' s work of my own,
where I got together throughout all thistime, throughout which I am a
producer who is within the professional audiovisualworld, I made many contacts. So
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I' ve got a lot ofcontacts for myself. I started calling province
by province to get room. Yougot 15 rooms for April for the movie.
Then I grabbed the district and toldhim Manu Manuel in two days.
I got 15 rooms. Then Itell independent productions I always tell you to
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trust more in the project that youhave in your hands than you can delegate
to someone else, paying you ornot. In this case, we paid
him, but well they did theirjob. I with Manu is all right.
In fact, we had a superprofessional talk, but I realized that
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working for a week, calling diesbetrays all the provinces, I got fifteen
rooms. Then there are spaces.I don' t know how long the
spaces are going to last or Incain the country. No, but we
did. It' s hard,but sometimes it has to be craft work.
I' d say why you thinkit' s worth making movies in
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Argentina. I think it' sworth making movies in Argentina, because it
' s part of our history,of our identity. I think every time
you ask this question, they alwaysanswer the same thing, because if it
' s not if we don't believe this, we' re going
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to believe it. I talk tomy family sometimes, not my family always
like it. Never look, neverlook at national cinema except the films I
produce Aha and they have a conceptionof independent cinema that I say independent cinema
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says a boring shitty cinema. Sothis one gives you a laugh, you
see, because it' s acollective job that took some money and I
think, but what everyone forgets hereis that it tells a little bit of
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the neighborhood, a piece of afamily story, a little bit of our
story. It' s a bitof something, of something so important that
it' s our identity. Argentinenational films. When I have the possibility
and the luck to go to internationalcongresses of audiovisual authors abroad, every time
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I talk to Colombians, Mexicans,even a Korean director, telling me yes
came from queens, I loved ifwild waterings I loved. Yeah, we
' re talking about tanks, no, but it' s still national cinema.
They talk to me and they bequeathto me. I say national,
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then you say. This is important, this is a part of our history.
When with Dack we made the planto recover, the plan to recover
was for those who don' tknow and can sniff it. It is
a work that made it give recovery, digitization and recovery of national films because,
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of course there was no state policythat protected the thirty- five-
millimeter cans that now I believe hasthe Museum of Cinema. Or part of
the Museum of Cinema, part ofthe Museum of Cinema, exactly that I
had the possibility to go that wasan incredible place, because there is a
total vinegar. But I' msaying it' s part of our story.
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That is part of our history andthere is no State policy to protect
them. And because that, that' s material, those thirty- five,
that' s wearing out if itdoesn' t have air conditioners,
an ideal temperature, if it's damp. There are many directs.
We realized that there were many directorswho had the cans of thirty- five
in the wardrobe of their house andthose can thirty- five are Argentine cultural
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heritage. Dack, what he didwas grab all those. He did all
one, called all the directors represented, grabbed a hundred national films, digitized
them, restored them, and todayhe calls me. Today calls me the
inca cinear or cinema play o.Lumond' s programmer tells me to listen
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to me, we want to doa clear film cycle understand and call me
Dack' s Then I say yes, black you just have to authorize for
him obviously we have an authorization fromthe director, the producer and ready I
give it to you then there yourealize how important that is and that it
seems to me that if you whoare listening to this podcast do not belong
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to the audiovisual world, I say, but you like national cinema. Or
it' s a state policy thathas to be, which is very important
and we have to protect it thenand protect our heritage, cultural culture in
the stories that tell us, notthat others tell us, but that tell
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us ourselves. Not a few yearsago and I' m sorry I interrupted
you a few years ago some Koreandirectors came to give a talk and started
counting some studies that they had donebecause in Korea, eighty percent of its
inhabitants consume their films. Obviously,we' re talking about Korea, which
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is a much bigger audiovisual industry thanHollywood, even if you don' t
believe it. Eighty percent of itsinhabitants consume Korean films. I' m
not saying we do it here.No, but I mean, it would
be good. But I mean,we' re far from it. But
if that little part doesn' tmake it disappear. Let' s take
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care of it, let' sprotect it Let' s work to make
that place we have in national cinemagrow, not make it disappear like they
' re doing now. So itseems to me that this is why citizen
participation is very important in these timesof crisis, where we all have to
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be present for beyond political differences.I think it' s something that goes
beyond that to keep telling our stories. So, Matías Sarilli, and thank
you so much for sharing your experienceswith us.