It may not be raining in Toronto, but the accolades are pouring in for filmmaker Jorge Molina.
No sooner had Molina hung up the phone to promote the screening of Zoey’s Hill at the 18th annual International Film Festival in Hollywood, than he was notified that the 10-minute short had won an award of excellence at the Best Shorts Competition in La Jolla, Calif.
Zoey’s Hill is a feel-good, family short about a quiet girl who yearns to sing, but is afraid to take a risk. Only when Zoey revisits her roots and watches old performance videos does she realize how much music means to her.
“I was very surprised and happy. All of sudden I get this e-mail telling me about the award. It means a lot to get that kind of validation especially from a third-party that has no vested interested,” Molina said.
A big part of the short’s success is due to the fresh-faced appeal of its stars, St. Albert-based Eve, 17, and Nico, 13 – the filmmaker’s niece and nephew.
“They just look so natural and open,” Molina says.
Two years ago, Molina visited his brother Javier during the Christmas holidays. To pass the time he had phoned Eve and Nico a few months earlier and asked if they would like to shoot another film with him.
The St. Albert duo had shot Jimmy and Della, a twist on O. Henry’s Gift of the Magi, several years prior. Although the short parody failed to win awards, it made the rounds of the festival circuit for three years.
With Zoey’s Hill, Molina set up a camera at Seven Hills, St. Albert Public Library, St. Albert Centre, the Red Willow Trail system and the exterior of their home.
Although Eve and Nico enjoyed the company of their cool uncle, they momentarily regretted the decision to star in the film.
“It was the coldest week of the year. It was freezing,” laughs Eve in mock horror.
“It was minus 25,” chimes in Nico, a Grade 8 student at Richard S. Fowler Catholic School.
Warming up to the memory, Eve, a St. Albert Catholic High student in Grade 12, adds, “My hands and feet were freezing. I ran to the car to warm up and was holding my feet with my hands. My uncle gave us pocket packs, but they didn’t work.”
Nico adds, “It came to a point it was hard to talk ’cause it was so cold.”
Like any professional troopers, they were prepared to suffer for their art and not give in to the biting temperatures.
As the practical minded Nico points out, “The faster we could get it done, the faster we could leave.”
Despite the demanding hours and dedication, when Molina returned to Toronto with the footage, he was unhappy with the takes and put them in cold storage for about six months.
“He didn’t like it – the way it was filmed and the way we acted,” explains Eve.
Born in Barcelona, Spain and raised in Sherwood Park, Molina studied acting with Theatre Alberta at the University of Alberta. He’s spent much of his professional life working in television and film, with acting credits that include Nikita, The Listener, Tarzan and Kojak.
“There’s nothing like getting an education on the set,” Molina comments.
One of his most memorable experiences was filming the sci-fi movie Blindness with director Fernando Meirelles (Constant Gardener, City of God). Molina was a security guard and the shoot took place at an old prison in Guelph, Ont.
“What impressed me was how he handled the massive cast and crew yet still managed to be such a cool human being,” says Molina.
Tired of only telling other writer’s stories, Molina decided to create some of his own – first with Jimmy and Della and then with Zoey’s Hill.
Under the moniker Nostra Casa Films (translated as Our House), Molina’s limited body of work so far is proving he’s more than a flash in the pan.
“Maybe we can win another award. It depends, but I feel really confident. The music is good. The kids are good. It’s all there.”
The International Film Festival in Hollywood runs May 1 to 5 screening 100 films from 37 countries. Zoey’s Hill receives its first public screening May 3 and 4 at the Raleigh Studios.
