Tea time with Cerdita
An interview with Carlotta Pereda, director of Cerdita
Why did you want to show moral harassment and do you have further projects on this theme?
I was bringing a baby girl into a world that sometimes terrifies me. This short film was a way of exorcising those fears by confronting them head on.
Why did you choose grossophobia to illustrate your subject?
My first idea was writing about homophobia. Then, one day at the pool, the same pool where the film takes place, I saw an obese child facing the hottest hour just to have the pool by herself. As a gay woman, I know you can escape homophobia by being in the closet in your teens, but you can’t escape grossophobia. It’s there for all to see and it is linked to agoraphobia. Grossophobia is universal. It happens even within marginalized communities, like the gay community, and it’s not particularly frowned upon even by people who consider themselves ‘woke’.
How did you met the actress to create the character?
After 2 years casting I saw Laura Galán in a play. She was 30 years old by the time we met. I wanted an older woman mentally prepared for the shoot but I was a bit scared she was a bit too old and it could turn out like Grease, with 40-year-old pretending to be 15. Theatre has more margin for abstraction, film doesn’t as much. We met in a bar, I asked her to play the last look of the film. She did. It was spot on. I knew I had to take the risk. It had to be her.
What was your interest in the additional question of video recording the humiliation?
When I was a child I could escape abuse. Even in a small village, you could hide and find solace in your room. Now, with mobile phones, there is no safe space.
How much were you interested in the question of Justice or Karma?
I am much more interested in the circle of violence. How one single gesture can break or perpetuate it. But if someone reads the story in the light of karma it’s fine with me too.
Would you say that the short film format has given you any particular freedom?
Yes. When there less money at stake you have more creative freedom. When you make a short film you never think about revenues. Sadly, you assume you are going to lose money. So you make whatever the hell you want.
