“PROXIMA ~ THE LAST SCI-FI MOVIE” (iSCIFI.tv interviews Carlos Atanes)

Jeff Norris interviews Carlos Atanes for iSCIFI.tv:

“iSCIFI. tv: Being a fan of many type of science fiction on television and in movies, we noticed you reference star wars and star trek, is there favorite.

Carlos: Yes, I am a Trekkie. “PROXIMA” is a SF movie about SF and SF lovers and, tastes aside, I think Star Trek is SF and Star Wars is not (it’s just fantasy). That’s what one of the characters is telling at video store sequence. I respect Star Wars liking, but me and my movie, as a pro-SF activists, tends to favor Star Trek, as you can see.

iSCIFI. tv: Proxima felt like a self discovery of ones orgin or creator. Did your religious beliefs influence you when creating the story.

Carlos: My religious culture more than my religious beliefs. When you see “PROXIMA” you find a lot of religious references. It’s a premeditated exercise. Anyway the movie is about faith. Not about faith in God, but faith in something else. It is a simple question: is life meaningless or is there some kind of order in the universe? When we face faith is not possible to forget our religious influences, our cultural substrate. Apart from it, there are more matter in “PROXIMA”, not strictly religious. “Anthropological” questions are: what is our fate as species? Must we live on Earth for ever? Could this sedentarism be dangerous and anti-evolutionary? If we are not alone, what if “they” find us before we find “them”?

iSCIFI. tv: You were both writer and director, do you prefer performing duel role in the creation of a film, or just behind the camera?

Carlos: Maybe I am basically a writer who makes movies. In fact I devote much more time writing than filming. But I I can’t get these two roles apart, I always write and direct my movies.

iSCIFI. tv: Manel Solás who played Felix, was very strong willed in this film akin to Obi Wan (star wars). How is such energy created ?

Carlos: It’s curious this comparison between “Felix Cadecq” and “Obi Wan”. I had not thought in it, but it seems a good simile. Anyway, “Felix Cadecq” is directly inspired by famous SF writer Philip K. Dick (my favorite one together with Lem). The SF convention sequence is an imitation of the scandalous lecture K. Dick did in Metz in 1977. And his peculiar concept about reality/dream mixture spreads along the whole film.”

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READ MORE at iSCIFI.TV

More info about Carlos Atanes movies at

www.carlosatanes.com