This Film is About Me

Renata sees it clearly: this film is about her. It’s about her personality, her charisma, her poetry and her unpredictability. It’s very much not about her crime or punishment - Renata is in jail for a brutal murder she committed many years ago. Immediately upon meeting her, director Alexis Delgado Búrdalo knew that Renata had to be the protagonist in his debut film. For him, it’s the same as what a painter once said to Renata: “Every time I think I've caught you, I discover something new in you.” His contagious fascination for the woman is evident in every image - her magnetic face often fills the screen completely. Búrdalo wants to film Renata, and she in turn enjoys being his protagonist. As the film unfolds, the director also becomes a player. While he’s making an intimate portrait about Renata, he also shows how it all came about. The interplay between filmmaker and subject are exposed as an intriguing negotiation. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)