You may remember last winter we introduced you to Pedro Pimentel.
Say hello, Pedro.
At that time, Pimentel, a budding filmmaker, was a senior and president of the Concord High Film Society. He, along with his society buddies, were putting on the second annual Concord High Film Festival, and we helped get the word out.
Now, Pimentel is the founder of Manguetown Pictures and will have his film, Accursed, shown as part of this weekend’s Somewhat North of Boston Film Festival on Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m. It’s the second year in a row that Pimentel has been a part of the S.N.O.B., so we decided to play catch up with our old friend for a little Q & A.
What does it mean to have one of your films shown in your hometown festival?
I find is absolutely fantastic. Different from having it screening somewhere across the country, showing it in the place where I live and where I made it is one the best ways to get people from the around the area to see it. Those who know the location, the actors . . . It becomes a whole different experience.
Tell us a little about the movie, i.e. length, plot, characters, without giving too much away?
Well, the movie is about a boy named Vincent, even though you don’t know that if you watch the film, who gets in quite big trouble, and is chased by this greaser-looking guy. The back story isn’t deeply developed in the film, because I didn’t want it to be the main focus of it. The boy runs into the woods in order to get out of the greaser’s way, and ends up getting lost. Due to whatever he did that got him in trouble, his soul was shattered, and while asking for help, he gets it from a dark, evil creature that appears. He begs to be able to survive in such an environment, so the creature turns him into a werewolf.
What was your inspiration for making the film?
I’ve always been afraid of werewolves, my whole life. My neighbors used to tell me stories about their sightings, and this used to scare me since I was a little kid. Even knowing that it’s all a folktale, a pretty old one, there’s something about this subject that creeps me out, and has a really big emotional influence in me. So I was talking to a friend of mine, Alex, who made a few films with me before that, and I told him “I wanna make a werewolf film. Not a gory, scary one, but a dark, eerie short.”
Did you shoot it in Concord? And if so where and why?
Yes, I shot it near the Conservation Center, in the Heights. Awesome area in the town. We were originally supposed to shoot in Candia, but it was a bit too far, so we ended up shooting it in Concord. New Hampshire is a very gorgeous place, especially during fall. I love the colors, the trees, the weather. It all helps during filming, to build this certain atmosphere, but also after, when the film is done and you have that awesome footage of a very good looking location.
Do you consider having your film shown in the SNOB taking your film making career to the next level?
Certainly. S.N.O.B. is a great event to promote independent work, and network with people from all over the country, especially New England. You get to see the work of people who make films professionally, and it inspires you to do more and more. Just being surrounded by people who love the same thing that you love is just a great experience, and quite inspiring to anybody who does anything involving creativity.
Do you hope that being a part of the S.N.O.B. is a yearly thing for you?
Oh yes. I was a part of it last year, I’m a part of it this year, and I plan on being as long as I have a new film to screen. Hopefully with a feature in the next couple years!
Tell us a little about the movie company you started?
I started out with HFPI Films, which is the group I used to sort of work with on different genres of films. Accursed was the first “big” short I made for it, which took a few months to get done. I started with a mix of drama/horror, with an eerie, almost Gothic look to it. Also I’ve worked with romance, exploitation, drama and suspense. After making HFPI Films’s last short called Jada, Queen of the Chains, I realized what style I was happier to work with. I started Manguetown Pictures this fall, and use it not only as a way to explore completely different genres, but also focus more on the one that I liked most. The first Manguetown Pictures short, called Clamor, was released early this fall, and people seem to be loving it, which is all that matters after all.
Is this the biggest thing you’ve been a part of in your film making career?
Public-wise, an event that I’ve been physically present to, I believe it is. Last year I was awarded the Governor’s Arts Award in the Youth Leadership category, which was something very, very big to me, so it’s really hard to come to a conclusion. I believe that the size isn’t what truly matters, but how whatever is happening will help me grow and teach me something new. The more it inspires me to do that, the greater it is in my opinion.
What do you hope people get out of seeing your film?
I hope they think that they had a good time. What I focus on when I’m making films isn’t to teach people a life lesson and change their lives, but to give them this sort of movie experience, where they can get into the story, and just feel like they’re in a somewhat different world while watching it. Give them some goose bumps, and make them hold their breath for a few second during a certain scene, that’s what I strive for.
What was the process like to get Accursed selected for the SNOB?
As I mentioned in another question, I was a part of S.N.O.B. last year, with the short, The Beauty of the World. S.N.O.B. has this great thing that once you’re a part of the festival for a year, you get a waiver to submit a film to the next festival, which when I received the email saying that, I didn’t think twice about submitting Accursed, which despite being my first film, it is still one of my favorites. I submitted it through Withoutabox, and received an acceptance email about two months later or so, which was pretty exciting.
