Meet Antony Berrios: Filmmaker & Writer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Antony Berrios and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Antony, how do you think about risk?
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far it is possible to go.” -T.S. Eliot Life in its self is full of risk. But the amount of risk we want to take is up to us, more or less. Working as an Editor, Writer, and Filmmaker risk is part of the challenge. It can also be part of the illusion. As a small boy, I always picked the more dangerous tree to climb, or hill to hike, or a game to play. I also never knew a simple life being raised by a single mom who struggled to keep my sister and me fed. Latch key kids of the ‘80s. During those long afternoons and evenings alone at home. I would dive into the world of films, books, and make-believe. Those alone moments ignited my mind in storytelling and fueled my love for film. I was very fortunate to know what I wanted to do at an early age. My obsessive one-track mind would not relent, and all I wanted to do was make films. The risk of telling my family this news that I didn’t want to be a doctor, a lawyer, nothing really respectable to them. I wanted to live in my dreams I wanted to have a creative life. My family rejected that idea at first and didn’t understand and chalked it up to “He’ll grow out of it.” Well, I never grew out of it, and because of that one-track mind of mine, I had to learn that being creative means RISK. It means putting yourself out there to be judged by others. It means there is a risk that your film won’t connect with people or the risk of not getting the money to finance your project. Risk means art. Risk means birth. Risk has taught me a lot about myself it has made me understand that the only limits I have are in my mind and that WE all can do whatever it is we put your efforts, strength, and passion into no matter your age not matter anything. We are all on our own paths in life. It’s your path, and it’s different from everyone else’s. And we get to our destination whenever we get there. But it all depends on the risks you want to take to get there. I just finished my third short film Tumble an homage to my love of the films of Jim Jarmusch. I work as an editor for documentaries and television and I’m also writing a Historical Fiction series. I feel so grateful to be still walking the path hand in hand with Risk.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My writing and filmmaking are concentrated on human behavior and the psychologies that make us all into who we are. Characters studies. I am more into the everyday life of a character or characters like filmmakers, Mike Leigh or Ken Loach. It’s tough because we live in an environment where people would rather watch a superhero film or Game of Thrones type of fantasy and even though those projects can still have some of the elements I love they are not based in the real world and I can’t write that kind of stuff. I can watch it. I have no issues with that. But when it comes to investing my creative time I’m much more drawn to everyday character projects. The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
For the sake of objective depth and honoring legacies: Jarmusch for me is among the most idiosyncratic auteurs still making films today. His films inspired me to want to write and make films. I also love the work of OZU. But Jarmusch storytelling and his street style narratives are sometimes disparate vignettes, other times, metanarratives always sucked me in and taught me a lot about filmmaking. My love for his films then spun me off to all the other filmmakers that inspired him so he was very much a gateway for my love for cinema.

Website: https://www.arablemedia.tv/

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/antonyberrios

Other: Short film: https://www.tumblethemovie.pictures/ IMD: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0077409/

Image Credits
Antony Berrios (C) 2020