NFB Hothouse 10: ‘End of Message’ (Benjamín Mugica)
Having studied Visual Arts at the Academia de Artes Visuales in Mexico City, Benjamín Mugica’s first creative ventures consisted largely of drawings, paintings and sculptures. He has since gravitated toward animation due to its value as “a platform for all the conceptual and tangible applications of time” in cinematic form. Before getting involved in the NFB‘s Hothouse apprenticeship scheme (in association with the Mexican Film Institute) he had previously directed the experimental animated short films Error en Uso (2011) and Sonidos Movimiento (2011). With End of Message, his contribution to the tenth edition of Hothouse, Benjamín has recontextualised the found sound of missed voicemails in an animated film that comments on the fragmentary nature of communication.
I study visual arts, but the cinema has always been very important to me. As a visual artist I try to use anything that works; my first works used the most readily available materials, but I’m learning more about software programs and other techniques as I go along.
The theme of my film, End of Message, is fractured communication: the caller gets no response, the message continues on its way but never reaches the person for whom it was intended, or we never know exactly what happened. The style of the film is very organic; its universe is alive and I wanted to interpret it in the film.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1tRWlZM0YI
Completing the film was hard but very rewarding. Working with such professional people, and with all the equipment and expertise at the NFB, was incredible. I will continue learning how to make movies and finding ways to tell stories.
-Benjamín Mugica
Keep your eyes on Skwigly over the coming days to hear more from the Hothouse 10 participants.