INTERVIEW: First-Time Venezuelan Filmmaker Marcel Rasquin Comes To America

First-time filmmaker Marcel Rasquin brings his award-winning film to the United States. The Venezuelan director explains to CineMovie why the Spanish-language film speaks universally and how an Indian child from Mumbia believed the film was made about him.

The 2010 Venezuelan hit comes to the United States for its American run.  HERMANO (Brother), a film by Marcel Rasquin earned critical raves and won several film festival awards such as the Golden George Award, The Public Choice Award, and the Critics Choice for the Best Movie at the Moscow International Film Festival.   The Spanish-language film was also the Official Oscar® entry in the Best Foreign Language category representing Venezuela at the 83rd Academy Awards. The story of two brothers who share the love of soccer and each other also took the audience award at the 14th Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival.

In our sit down with the first-time Venezuelan filmmaker, Rasquin tells us he has taken the Spanish-language film all over the world and received numerous compliments from the general audience.  Regardless of the culture, everyone can relate to the theme of the movie. In HERMANO, Daniel (Fernando Moreno) and Julio (Eliu Armas) are two kids raised as brothers in the slums of Caracas. Both dream of becoming professional soccer players. The opportunity of their lives arrives when a headhunter for the Caracas Football Club invites them to a tryout with the team. But their life at the slum interferes and a tragedy shakes them.

The former advertising director feels like an ambassador for his native county after his first film was chosen for the Official Oscar® entry in the Best Foreign Language category representing Venezuela at the 83rd Academy Awards.  Having been chosen for the Oscars meant the world could finally see Venezuela as talented filmmaking community specifically in the area of cinematography.

HERMANO is currently playing in select movie theaters.