Strings – Prison City
Penny has her share of demons, and she’s about to take on one more. Despite her inability to play, Penny has big dreams of becoming the world’s greatest axe player. After stealing one from an antique shop, she decides to break it in at the local punk bar she frequents. Things don’t go very well, and Penny ends up face down in the alley after being thrown out by the owner. Defeated, she quickly turns to a familiar vice, shooting smack to ease the pain. As her high subsides, a dark presence approaches her with a proposition: Penny gives up three souls, and all her dreams come true.
RODRIGO MORENO-FERNANDEZ (Writer, Director, Producer, Editor) is based in South Texas. After immigrating from Mexico in 2006, the self-taught filmmaker made his directorial debut with the indie feature The Whole. He received the ‘First Time Director Award.’ from the London Independent Film Awards and the ‘Best Screenplay Award’ from the Reel East Texas Film Festival. His short film Ramona: This Too Shall Pass also received awards and accolades.
Rodrigo spent seven years as an illegal immigrant until he managed to secure deferred status during the Obama administration, allowing him to stay in Texas and work. Married with a three-year-old child with no papers or money, Rodrigo could not attend film school. He taught himself to film and tell stories by reading everything he could get his hands on and by listening to other filmmakers discuss their processes. Despite his struggles, he saved enough money to buy a second-hand camera, and he started making videos; for himself and later for those that might hire him for commercial work. Through this, he learned (by trial and error) how to light, shoot, and block actors, and he also learned to write scripts. Eventually, his commercial work began winning awards.
One day he asked his wife permission to use their life savings to make a movie. She said yes, and from then on, became his producer. Together they managed to produce one feature film and two short narratives. Rodrigo’s work has been programmed into festivals around the world. He recalls not having a work permit for his first invitation to a festival and could not confirm his attendance as a director because of it. Today, he is proud to hold 14 awards for his work and, more importantly, to call himself a filmmaker.
Where did this story come from?
In essence, this story is based on Goethe’s “The Tragedy of Faust,” which has been in literature and folklore for hundreds of years and has inspired many books and short stories. Many storytellers created a world called “Magic Realism,” particularly in Mexico and South America.” Movies like Roberto Gavaldón’s “Macario” – Ismael Rodriguez’ “The Paper Man (1963)” and Emilio “El Indio” Fernández’ “La Perla,” have been my inspiration and are part of Mexico’s basic basket of stories. The ol’ “At the end, the Devil is gonna get you” story fascinated me since I was a child. So, I tried to bring this type of Mexican story to the US and converted it to Rock/Punk, so it would be an easier pill to swallow. The dialogs between the “Voice” and Penny are inspired by Juan Rulfo’s “Pedro Paramo,” in which the words go back and forth between characters like waves. You will never make sense when you talk with spirits, and everything is always crystal clear at the end.
Who is The Voice? What does the Voice represent?
The “Voice” is a facilitator, a trickster that is infinitely smarter and wiser than anyone. It doesn’t have gender or pronoun. It is there to take souls and teach here and there a lesson about greed and desire. It is there to inhale souls and puff them out with every drag of its cigarette. The Voice represents false hope. A hope that everyone in this world has felt, but none admits feeling. The Voice is a false prophet and represents the wrong choice every time, a choice of power, fortune, and talent (in Penny’s case) that is so seductive that we are always tempted to take it. The promise of cutting corners.
Why are THE VOICE and THE PRESENCE never fully revealed?
The Voice is a character that comes like a dream, one of those dreams that, as much as you try when you wake up, you can’t remember its face or even what it was. It lives in the shadow protecting his image. It wants to be familiar but at the same time doesn’t want to represent anything.
Is this story based on true events or an actual person?
I guess it is based on actual desires. Most of the stories I write are about that. I like to play with people’s imagination and ask questions like: What would you do? Would you take the deal? The choices we make today determine the consequences of our future. As Satre said: “The underlying motivation for action is to be found in the nature of consciousness, which is a desire for being.”
What was it about this story that incited you to want to write and direct?
I grabbed my old guitar during the pandemic and started re-learning many tunes. While practicing, I started thinking of how hard it is to be a great player. You’ve got to practice a lot. Playing “Mary had a f’ing lamb” over and over until your fingers go numb is for nitwits. Who has time for that? I want my MTV right now! I thought it was a good premise. So, I re-read some stories like Goethe’s and dived into Mexican folk tales. After a few months, the script was ready. After that, it was all about waiting.
Why do you feel this story needed to be told?
We are all confused, and I mean everyone in this world. No matter what you do for a living or how high you are in the food chain, the mere fact that someday, somewhere, you will die confuses you. It makes your life meaningless if you think about it. Penny, like many of us, wants to break the cycle. She portrays everyone’s lust for meaning. Desire, Talent, Vengeance, Pity, and Love are recurring subjects in the film. If you think about it, those emotions are the ones that make us embrace the rock we carry uphill.
What do you hope audiences will take away from having seen the film?
Questions, we hope; A self-evaluation of feelings. In my opinion, the most significant thing a filmmaker can do is to make the audience reflect. I imagine them sitting at a bar after watching the film and talking about the meaning of love or what they would ask for if Mephisto appeared to them in a dark alley.