Josué Méndez

2006/2007 Film Protégé

Josué Méndez Talks About His Year as a Rolex Protégé

Can you describe your first meeting with Stephen Frears?

We met for a two-hour-long interview, which I thought was probably going to be the last time I would ever see him. I remember I interviewed him more than he interviewed me. I asked how he got his first film made, about his view of British film. We talked about why he worked for Hollywood. Or why he didn’t work for Hollywood.

In what ways did Frears surprise you?

Something he said every day was that I'll never know what I did wrong until the film is done. And then I'll say: “Oh, Stephen told me that!”

Earlier on, did your parents criticise your choice of career?

My parents never tried to stop me, but they weren't encouraging. My father always hoped, up until a few years ago, that it was really engineering that I wanted. Only after my short film before Dias de Santiago was sold in Spain did he realise that maybe I knew what I was doing. Before that, he'd say: “So, son, have you been thinking engineering? It's never too late.”

What kind of movies do you want to make. Realistic? Abstract?

Realism doesn't really exist. Anything you create in front of a camera doesn't follow the rules of reality. It's completely designed, rehearsed and made for the screen.

Do you worry that people will look at Dioses and suspect that you satirised the upper classes because you're envious of them?

But I am! In one way you can be really critical and say: “How can they live like that?” But, on the other hand, when you're in it, you think: “I would love to live there.” It’s a contradiction. One side of you thinks it's beautiful. Another thinks it's dumb.