Meet Irene Gil-Ramon | Filmmaker & Visual Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Irene Gil-Ramon and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Irene, any advice for those thinking about whether to keep going or to give up?
Living in Los Angeles, you ask yourself this on a daily basis.

One of the themes that drives my short, “Best Day of My Life (in LA)”, is precisely this dilemma: should I keep pushing or should I just give up? With ¨quiet quitting¨ looming in the background and a protagonist that has been running on empty for too long, it’s a personal love letter to the magic and often brutal city that is LA.

Both on set and in life, I feel it’s key to become a better listener. By listening to your environment, the people around you and your intuition –beyond biases and fears– you can override the dilemma of ¨giving up¨ and realize that the only option is to keep going.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I don’t believe in the idea of distinction applied to artists. The interests behind differentiating us from the majority of society have to do with extreme privilege and gatekeeping. Also with a scarcity mindset.

At the same time, as a close friend of mine (a diehard Marilyn Monroe fan) once put it, “I’m the one dreaming the hardest”. I navigate the complexities and often the constant disenchantment of the film industry with an eye on the long game and with humor whenever possible. I think disenchantment is a necessary part of the artist-entrepreneur journey. We need to embrace disenchantment. And then reenchant the world.

If you can channel who you truly are, with whatever limitations, make that part of the artistic proposal, in this case, the film language. I did that in “Best Day…”, it was a beautiful dance with a close-knitted team of four people (Harper, Sandoval, Vélez and myself). Documentary has taught me how to shoot fiction and I also take pleasure in that dance.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
First off, I think you have to be at peace with the fact that you’ll never LA in its complexity, let alone in a week.

So from there, I’d like to dedicate this ideal, very hedonistic one-day-in-LA to my friend from college days in Barcelona, Àngela. We’d start the day with the only croissant that can truly remind us of a legit croissant back in Europe, Proof Bakery in Atwater Village. Then we’d teleport (no traffic on this ideal day) to a corner somewhere around Venice Beach, eat some good street tacos and take a walk down the boardwalk.

My own version of the Walk of Fame is the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, a must-do. Next, we would have to soak at Wi Spa, followed by Korean BBQ or Dang Sung Sa, after which we’d have to finish strong either at Aroma golf range or karaoke. Or both.

The next morning, to help with the hangover, a walk around City Terrace and eat the best tortas in East LA at Zenaida’s Coffee, owned by Dulce, the open-minded, warm-hearted woman who has become part of my family away from home.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I don’t know when I’ll have the chance to do this again, so, in no particular order: Neus Ballús, Jordi Balló, Clara Roquet, Carlos Marquès-Marcet, Oscar Pérez, Tono Folguera, Roger Brufau, Mayca Sanz and Ariadna Dot; without them, I wouldn’t have achieved the scholarship that brought me to the US. Once here in LA, I found a second home with creatives like Max Harper, Mali Sandoval, Martín Vélez, Shanthal Caba, Lioness-Sia, MaryKate Glenn, Julia Saénz-Lorduy or Mike Formanski… My extended community in the Film/Video School of CalArts and my fellow Catalan filmmakers working here like Mireia Vilanova and Tuixén Benet.

Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7113490/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fictitious.point/

Image Credits
Photos by Max Harper (1 and 2) and Alexandria Sherman (3-5)