Gasolina, a New Film by Julio Hernández Cordón
I became contagious with the regular twitter updates about gasoline prices going down in Guatemala, so the very next time I went to the gas station, I took my own shot of the “low” gasoline prices. The prices for fuel in gas stations, as you can see on the board, are around Q28 for regular, Q29 for super and Q27 for diesel. Just two weeks ago, the prices were Q10 above the current prices, so it is normal to assume the current gasoline prices as “low” even though before the price of oil began its unprecedented hike fuel prices were around Q20. As a historical perspective, let me share with you that when Mr. Bush took office in 2001, fuel prices were around Q11. At one point at the end of September 2008, fuel prices reached the Q40 at some gas stations. Minimum wage salary for a day in Guatemala is about Q45.
The Gasolina Aside:
Shortly after we arrived in Guatemala in late 2001, we went to see a short film festival at one of the cultural centers in Guatemala City. It was there that we were introduced to the work of Julio Hernández Cordón through a short film (about 3 minutes) entitled KM 31. The best short film we saw at the time. We were hooked on Julio’s work and since then we followed his work and life events and even became acquainted. So it was no surprise to hear that when Julio Hernández Cordón began looking for funds for his first full-feature film, forty plastic artists donated their work in order to raise funds. Then came the awards for Gasolina. First it was an award by Cinergia, a Central American film festival. “Finally, in 2007, Gasolina was awarded three prizes in the San Sebastian Film Festival which made postproduction possible. Gasolina is a film from a country with neither a cinema law nor a film institute.” as stated in the dossier. If you want to learn more about the film Gasolina, please download the About Gasolina Film bilingual PDF file (300 kb).
Below you can read the synopsis taken from the Dossier of Gasolina:
Three teenagers: Gerardo, Nano and Raymundo, spend their spare time stealing gasoline to go joyriding. So, we face a story whose characters travel in one of their mother’s car without a fixed destination, just to entertain themselves. Each stop is a crash with reality that puts their friendship to the test, showing that teenage friendships have a thin line that separate betrayal, deception and a kamikaze-like solidarity. Gasolina is an intimate story that shows that youth, country and future are defined by extremes.
Perhaps, Julio and his friends will stop stealing gasoline to go filming “Polvo” (his next film) around Guatemala if they can make enough money from Gasolina. Best of luck to Julio, Pamela and the filming crew.
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