Ariel Winograd He is an artist who is passionate about filming. Getting behind a camera gives meaning to his existence.
A true king of comedy in Argentine cinema, he is similar to directors like Billy Wilder or Ivan Reitman, thanks to his extraordinary ability to move, amuse and entertain in the same story, as he recently demonstrated in this fable about an ordinary man facing the abyss. Called “The Manager”.
He portrayed his childhood in “Cara de queso” and knew how to have fun with the hardships of his own marriage in “My first wedding”. “Mom went on a trip”, “Today the world is fixed” and “Without children” could be part of a trilogy on parenthood. His virtues as his storyteller are enhanced when he showcases his fascination with the sophisticated world of crime in titles like “Wine to Steal” and “The Robbery of the Century.”
With a jovial and sporty look, he receives NEWS to talk about movies and a few other things.
News: I recently read in a review that you were presented as a “prolific craftsman of the audiovisual industry”. Does that definition identify you?
Ariel Winograd: You saw that when they talk about one it is very difficult to stand up, both from the positive and with the negative things they can say. I identify myself at the point that it is seen that I film a lot and that behind it there is a craft work. The phrase sounds heavy but you break it down and it is true that making movies is a hyper-artisan task and one dedicates his life to each project.
News: “The manager” was released, now he is filming a series about Guillermo Coppola, he made “The robbery of the century”. Are you relying more on reality than on fiction to develop his material?
Winograd: In honor of the truth, “Face of Cheese”, which is my first film, was already a biopic although later with the passage of time I realized it. When “The Robbery of the Century” arrived, I thought that one always somehow stands up to reality, even when someone writes fiction they must take elements from reality, even if they take them to the extreme to outline the characters.. In these cases that we are discussing, they are real stories that seem scripted, super attractive so that they operate as a trigger and from there build a fiction.
News: He has made very successful movies, but until now he has never made a sequel to any. Was it not given or is it an enemy of the second parts?
Winograd: I’m no hater, I would have loved to do a sequel to “Mommy Gone on a Trip”! But the producers did not want to, later in Spain Santiago Segura made it and it is on the fifth. What’s more, at the end of the film, my son Lolo says “soon” Mom went on a trip 2, so I really would have loved it but they weren’t interested, these are things that happen. For me, the issue of the sequels is closely linked to whether you really feel that you can continue exploring that universe, if you wanted to tell other things or aspects that were not finished developing. Not those sequels that are saga type where you add 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and end up being a big deal.
News: With that need that there is sometimes to exploit something, what impression did it make you that the real thieves of the century wanted to tell their own version in the Netflix documentary?
Winograd: It didn’t bother me. I speak with Fernando Araujo and while we were filming the film the guys who made the documentary came and filmed on our same sets. If you see the poster and how it is filmed, there are many shots that are absolutely the same as those of “The robbery of the century.” But I’ll tell you one, I called Fernando Araujo and told him: “Hey, they promote it as the story of the real robbery, and what we did was the fake one?” He told me: “And, did you see they put that on him” (he laughs). I loved the documentary, I found it spectacular.
News: You recently did an advertisement for a bank with Iván de Pineda. How do you deal with something that could be read as a contradiction, because his movie was about a bank robbery and now you work for one doing an ad?
Winograd: We have had an advertising production company called Winona for eight years and we do not see it as a contradiction, even that advertising arose because they saw “Today the world is fixed” and they said: “Let’s call the boy in this movie to act”, and then It also occurred to them: “And Wino to direct”. All of that was nice. You do many things, it’s not that you are for or against, they are projects and you take them with respect and love.
News: You are doing very well with the cinema, are you still filming commercials for an economic issue or is there something else?
Winograd: I like filming, I enjoy it a lot and mainly advertising has a challenge that I think is often minimized.. Telling a story in 25 seconds and making it understood is a tremendous exercise. I am very respectful of audiovisual language in all its aspects, be it an advertisement, a documentary, a film or a series.
News: You tend to take your stories to the comedy side. Do you also find humor in everything in life?
Winograd: I always try to see the positive side of the negative things, when you can go back and see the opportunities you are having in life, you have to be very grateful., also remembering that there is a work and an effort from many years ago. For me, success is in continuing to film, having the possibility that producers, actors and technicians trust me and want to work together again. It gives me a lot of happiness to film, I am a very complete person when I filmthen, if I’m tired, it’s a tiredness of extreme happiness. You have to see what success is and what there is a journey behind it.
News: Precisely speaking of this subject, there are very prestigious directors who are forgiven if their films do not sell tickets. Do you have the pressure for your films to be good and also to be commercially successful?
Winograd: There is no pressure in that sense, the film is built from the moment you have the script or from the moment the idea arises. The only pressure I put on myself is that when I get involved in a project I want to give it my all, sometimes it may not work out but it’s good to feel that you put everything on the pitch. In the case of “The Manager”, Paramount+ already called us with the idea and with the proposal to put it together with Axel Kuschevatzky through his production company Infinity Hill, we have known him for years, we did “My First Wedding” together at the 2011… Oh, that’s also half a biopic (He laughs).
News: You have filmed 11 movies. At first Daniel Hendler was in several, then the same thing happened with Diego Peretti and now with Leo Sbaraglia. Are they actors who were representing you throughout your life?
Winograd: I hadn’t thought about it, but it could be. They are actors with whom you connect at different times in life.. For example, in “The manager” and “Today the world is fixed” we with Leo have wanted to work for a thousand years, with him I find at this moment that there is a similar sensitivity in the desire to tell stories. It happened to us in “The Manager” which is a film that connects a lot with the father and son theme, but unlike “Without children” or “Mom went on a trip” and “Today the world is fixed” where I always thought what I would do as a father, in this film I am the son. And it happened to Leo that “The Manager” for him was a connection with his grandfather. A family mess! (laughs) But that generated such sensitivity that even Valentín Wein, who plays the son, in the costume fittings I gave him my teenage diver. There is another scene where Leo’s character takes him to drive, that ritual is something that connected me a lot with my old man, they are those moments in life that lead you to a very strong emotion, this movie is a love letter to my dad . Also the issue of soccer, my grandfather was a fanatic bostero, I got closer to soccer because of him, but after he died I abandoned that part of me until my son Lolo took me back to the field with my whole family, I’ll tell you and tell you excited. It is true that you connect with the actors at different stages. Hendler, for example, married my wife Nathalie and me in real life, there’s a mutual emotional connection.
News: You are filming your first series in Argentina, why did you decide to join in telling the story of Guillermo Coppola instead of continuing with the cinema?
Winograd: It’s not that I said stop, at the moment we are also developing films, the cinema is always there. This project arises from the desire to do something with the Bossi brothers that we have been looking for for a long time and finally arrived. I found it very interesting to be able to tell the nineties as they were, trying not to judge but trying to show part of our history reflected in the life of a character as attractive as Guillermo Coppola.. It’s a great excuse to tell how we were in the nineties.
by Leonardo Martinelli
