Austin Film Festival is proud to announce a lineup of WORLD PREMIERES at its 31st season. Today we’ll be looking at the comedy feature The Perfect Club written and directed by Ricardo Castro.
(Mexico, 102 MIN)
Writer/Director: Ricardo Castro
Cast: Rodrigo Munguía, Gabriel Fritsch, Andrea Tova, Daniela Martínez
A fight between Mirko and Diego, the most incompatible students in high school, sparks a legendary friendship that results in the creation of an exam-stealing club, made up of the most eccentric characters in the class.
This film will play with on-screen English subtitles.
Keep reading for Ricardo’s full interview.
AFF: How would you describe the writing/development process of your film?
It was very fun recollecting all my memories from my teenage years, reading my old messenger conversations which I had saved on an old hard drive, watching the most cringe photos of me and my friends back then, doing interviews with all the people and friends who were involved in the robbery, listening to all the music I heard in 2007. It was such a deep, fun and nostalgic trip down memory lane.
AFF: What were some notable roadblocks to making this film?
It was very interesting to work with teenagers who were not actors, and put them in the universe of the 2000’s, to realize that they didn’t even know how an old telephone works, which for me that period in life doesn’t sound that far away, but for them it is a prehistoric world.
AFF: What audience do you think would enjoy this film the most?
It’s a universal story, but it’s made for all the teenagers in the world who are struggling with finding their identity in high school. I made this movie to tell them that life does not depend on a grade, that everything will be fine even if things don’t turn the way everyone expects from you, that high school life is about making friends and relationships that define you. The movie is also made for people my age (30’s) who lived that period in life, as a tribute and love letter to the 2000’s.
AFF: For Narrative: If your film was a baby, what two films would be its parents?
Ladybird and Ocean’s Eleven