//Thirteen & Co director, Patrick Fileti, is all about emotion. He is drawn to stories that have a purpose and provoke thought. That is abundantly clear in his film, Inferno, whose rich imagery and emotive power completely conceal the fact that it was made on a shoestring budget.
Inferno is the true story of Tultepec in Mexico, a town famous for its pyrotechnics industry and the and the unique sub-culture that surrounds it. The film presents a portrait of the lives of the town’s artisans and their families in the lead up to the festival of San Juan de Dios, and is designed to honour the spirit, tradition and passion of Tultepec’s community in celebrating life to the point of embracing death. Beginning the festival, a party sets the town aflame. Roughly 300 giant wooden bulls loaded with fireworks are built for a single day of incendiary celebration. It is a ritual and a pageant that celebrates explosives for their life-giving energy in a town that lives and dies according to the laws of gunpowder and fate.
“Going deeper into the flames, pyrotechnics honour the passion and spirit of people celebrating life while acknowledging the ever-present proximity of death,” Fileti commented. “All this for the rapturous applause of a hundred thousand people screaming in shared catharsis. The biggest honour goes to the bull with the fiercest fireworks display. Dying to make this day possible is considered heroic and holy.”
While the film is a remarkable film in its own right, it is also a showcase for Fileti’s ability to capture beauty, humanity and honesty in his storytelling, and elicit genuine performances from both actors and non-actors. Inferno is told through the eyes of the townspeople themselves with additional casting for the film’s lead protagonists carried out in Mexico City. Fileti is captivated by social stories that confront an audience’s pre-conceived notions of people and communities, so his films regularly challenge perceptions and open up a dialogue about the diverse traditions and subcultures that often exist in our own backyard.
“Casting was crucial to the authenticity of the film,” Fileti explained. “Our hero is also a guy whose appearance appears forbidding, but that has little relation to the content of his character, changing people’s minds about what they think people should be…without it being forced. Just a natural message that is conveyed through the language of film.”
The director made his film with an Alexa Mini and Lomo Anamorphic lenses across a five-day shoot, working with a tight-knit Mexican film crew on the ground. It was important for him to engage deeply the local community and for them to feel genuinely connected to the film. He enlisted award-winning DOP, Galo Olivares, the cinematographer behind this year’s Oscar-nominated Netflix film, Roma, which just won a BAFTA for best cinematography. And Fileti spent six months developing the film’s soundtrack with Los Angeles composer, Daniel McCormick.
Inferno is set to make its debut at select film festivals. Details to be announced soon.
Credits:
Director & Writer: Patrick Fileti
Executive Producer: Patrick Fileti
Producer: Antonio Tonitzin Gomez
Cinematography: Galo Olivares & Andres Arochi
Colourist: Edel Rafferty
Original Soundtrack: Daniel McCormick
Sound: Abigail Sie
Autochoral: Benoit Pioulard
Music Assistant: Ivan P. McCormick
Transport & Production Assistant: Luis Astorga
1st AC: German Betncourt
2nd AC: Antonio Varela
Data Manager: Jonatan Ruvalcaba Maciel
Gaffer: Lucio Gutierrez
Best Boy: Bala
With the support of: //Thirteen & Co, Cineburo, Simplemente & The Refinery
Fileti has also directed commercials for McDonald’s, Jetstar, Coca-Cola, Shell and ENOC Group, Canon, Samsung, Vodafone and Lexus. His work for Coca Cola-was awarded three Gold, two Silver and four Bronze at Cannes Lions.
In 2011, Fileti co-founded the art collective, Archrival, to create unique installation works for exhibitions such as the Venice International Biennale, Sydney Art Month, Art & About and Sydney Fringe Festival.
