Simón (2018)

Interesting facts

Simón is a 2018 short drama film directed by Venezuelan filmmaker Diego Vicentini. The film is about a young Venezuelan who is seeking asylum in the United States, though his heart remains in the protests back home. It was created following the 2017 student protests, hoping to raise awareness of the crisis in Venezuela around the world.

Production

In October 2017, Vicentini, then a student in California, saw the protests unfolding from videos and social media. He says that this experience was "surreal" and like "a double life"; that he could watch the videos and be very worried, but then leave the house and "little birds were singing; everything was nice and quiet". This difference is what made Vicentini feel "the duty" to make the short film.

The film was shot in March 2018, in Los Angeles, and was originally Vicentini's thesis for his master's degree in Cinema. It was filmed over five days and is mostly in English, starring Venezuelan actor Christian McGaffney among a cast of Americans.

The title of the film is for the Venezuelan liberator, Simón Bolívar, evoking his heroism. Vicentini chose this title as an acknowledgement of all the young people involved in protests against the Nicolás Maduro government, saying they "are all 'mini liberators' because they fought for the freedom of Venezuela", emphasizing that many died, were injured, kidnapped, and tortured.

In 2019, Vicentini and Marcel Rasquin began fundraising to make a feature film of the story.

A feature film was shot in 2021 and released in 2023. The main cast included Luis Silva, Prakiti Maduro, Franklin Virgüez, José Ramón Barreto and Christian McGaffney.

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