Juan Teisaire is an Argentinian actor who just won Best Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Direction and Best of Festival at the Strasberg Festival. He received these awards for a movie he wrote, directed and acted in called Cortado. This movie is both in Spanish and English and it deals with a cross-cultural couple, and the issues that arise from speaking different languages.
indieactivity: What inspired you to create this particular story?
Juan Teisaire (JT): It all happened during a dinner conversation with the other writer (and amazing actress) of Cortado, Hannah Abdoh, we were talking about our experiences as non-Americans in the dating world, and jokingly creating scenarios about the cultural differences we had encountered.
Two hours later we were writing a script. The initial concept was more humorous. Like, we had actually envisioned the character of the waitress as a waiter. But as we continued to work on it, we began to see the potential for a deeper exploration, and decided to take a more serious approach.
How did you (film director) create or arrive at a distinctive approach to Cortado?
Juan Teisaire (JT): Right from the beginning, we knew that if we didn’t approach the film correctly, it would end up being just another love story. We wanted to create a movie that was much more than that – one that explored how language barriers and lack of communication can impact any type of relationship, while also exposing the toxic techniques we use to gain control in relationships.
To portray all these unsaid things Andrew Kischerbaum, and I spent over three months working on the camera work, focusing on where the camera needed to be, why certain movements were necessary, and how they helped to say the unsaid. Examples include creating a sense of mystery and a glorified girl image for the Waitress or, in the last three minutes of the film, having the characters finally stop moving around, and sit down to have a real conversation before that big ending.
There are more examples but there are some things I don’t want to spoil.
What did your protagonist’s struggle with in this film?
Juan Teisaire (JT): To put it bluntly, they struggle with each other. In fact, I would say the film is a constant power struggle between two people who are trying to regain control over one another.
How was it like to act and direct at the same time?
Juan Teisaire (JT): People say that it’s challenging, but that wasn’t the case for me. I am an actor first and foremost, so having the opportunity to direct allowed me to tell myself what to do – what could be better than that? I didn’t have to worry about having a different opinion or adjusting to another director’s instructions. Also, having spent a significant amount of time working on the film as the director, I had a clear vision of what I wanted the final product to look and feel like, which made it easier to act.
In terms of budget, how did you manage to successfully produce the film?
Juan Teisaire (JT): Well, I was lucky enough to work on a good amount of films and one TV documentary this year. These projects gave me two very important things: Money and Connections. And that is what built our crew for Cortado.
I’ve seen “Before you go” & “Personal Pizza” and your acting was brilliant. What else can I see you on?
Juan Teisaire (JT): Thank you. I’m glad you liked them. Well, I just finished working on a new documentary for Investigation Discovery (ID) so, soon ,you’ll be able to see me portrait Eddie Sedda (The Zodiac Killer). Also, now on festivals like CAAMFest, NFFTY (National Film Festival for Talented Youth), the Coney Island Film Festival, Big Apple Film Festival and others you can watch Jungle Rhythms, Say Something and Two Wrongs.
What was your favorite scene to shoot in the film, and why?
Juan Teisaire (JT): To be honest, all those moments in which I get to speak Spanish were very special to me in this film. It just felt like home, you know? It reminded me of my first acting classes back in the day and the TV series Kally’s Mashup I worked on in Argentina. Being on set in NYC and thinking back to those moments just gave me a feeling of pride in representing my country through my work.
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ACTOR INTERVIEWS
