{"id":7321,"date":"2019-04-15T08:00:35","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T08:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nyglamour.net\/?p=7321"},"modified":"2026-02-03T04:09:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T04:09:27","slug":"i-dont-believe-in-luck-i-believe-in-effort-and-dedication-manuela-berlanga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/?p=7321","title":{"rendered":"“I don\u2019t believe in luck, I believe in effort and dedication” – Manuela Berlanga"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Manuela Berlanga, 33, graduated with a degree on Education in the city of S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil. After 12 years of working in the corporate world, she decided to quit her career to study film in 2014. Manuela studied screenwriting in S\u00e3o Paulo and in 2015 moved to New York to improve her studies. Back in Brazil, writing and directing, Manuela worked in advertising and institutional films and video clips. Inspired by a story in which she lived while working in the corporate world, she wrote “Ana”, where she discusses psychological disorders that she believes that need to be openly discussed: anxiety and depression. \u201cAna\u201d turned out to be something bigger than she imagined. Manuela is now writing a TV show, called MIND, that will explore several psychological disorders.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exclusive Interview with Filmmaker Manuela Berlanga<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam: Congratulations on being accepted at the prestigious\nInternational Filmmaker Festival of New York. Can you tell us about the film\nand the process of making it?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ana is a story that has been on my mind since 2012, when I was working\nin the corporate world. At that time I found myself very stressed and with\ninsomnia, and I said to myself \u201cone day I will make a movie that will tell the\nstory of a woman that is so very tired that she won\u2019t even be able to know\nwhat\u2019s real and what\u2019s not\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2016, I was already working with movies and so I decided to take this\nstory and turn it into one. I wrote the script, I recruited people, I borrowed\nequipment and audaciously I produced the movie, without any budget and with a\nlot of good people willing to help me!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong> How did you go about casting for the film?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Casting is a\ncrazy process, because many times we create the character in our minds and when\nwe meet some of the actors and we do the reading they surprise us and show\nsomething completely new. And then, together, begins a process of creation of\nthe character\u2019s personality. I made a few readings and little by little the\ncharacters began to come to life.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NY Glam:<\/strong> What is the story about and how did you achieve it cinematically?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story is about Ana, a woman that suffers with depression and anxiety\nand is going through an insomnia crisis, which intensifies her disorders. I have\nalways been very careful to tell this story because many people suffer with\nthese, and because it is a delicate matter I looked for subtle ways to show it\nthrough images. Sometimes I would use a more distant framing, like if she was\nmore disconnected and far from this world.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • \"\"<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    NY Glam: Will you be attending the IFFNY festival in New York in May?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Unfortunately I won\u2019t be able to attend. I started my career with cinema\nin NY, I studied script at NYFA, I stayed there for an year and a half and when\nI decided to go to Brazil on vacations I had my visa denied to go back to\nUnited States. Hence having my movie at this festival has an extremely special\nmeaning for me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    NY Glam:<\/strong> How long have you been making films and videos?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I started studying\nscreenwriting in 2014 and in 2015 I moved to NY, where I stayed there for 1\nyear and a half studying at NYFA, and when I came back to Brazil I produced the\nshort-film \u201cAna\u201d and also worked with publicity videos and TV shows. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    NY Glam:<\/strong> What film was your directorial debut? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    My\ndirectorial debut was \u201cAna\u201d, my first short-film as writer and director.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    NY Glam:<\/strong> What was the most important lesson you had to learn that has had a\npositive effect on your film? <\/strong>How did that lesson\nhappen?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Making movies is a slow process that demands patience, dedication and\nlots of study. And for sure finding the right people to create with me was the\nbiggest lesson I had, because the creative process needs to flow naturally with\neverybody in a movie set. No film is produced by one person and that is why it\nis so important for everybody to work well and in tune. And that is something\nthat Ihave beenlearning day after day, set after set, and it is something\nbeautiful to live and learn.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    NY Glam:<\/strong> Is it harder to get started or to keep\ngoing? What was the particular thing that you had to conquer to do either?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Both are very hard. It is hard to begin, because we are huge critics of\nourselves and never believe that we are ready, that the script is good enough, that\nthe moment is right. At this point it is important to ignore all the voices\ninside your head and act, because you will never be 100% ready, scripts change\nuntil de day of the shooting\u2026 And, soon after, it does not get any easier\nbecause there is always someone criticizing, saying that it would do it\ndifferently, reinforcing that you are really not ready! And also because it\ntakes too much time of your life and if it is the case of someone like me that\nhad no financial help it gets even more complicated. Quarrels with your family\nbecause they do not understand why you are doing this. Quarrels with yourself\nbecause you need to pay your bills. You have to give up so much\u2026. Anyway, it is\na daily battle with yourself and with all the \u201cNOs” that you receive. That\nis why it is so important to track goals and make plans, like \u201chow will I end\nthis project?\u201d, \u201cin which festivals will I submit?\u201d and \u201cwhat will I do after\nthis?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    NY Glam:<\/strong> How has your style evolved?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The more we tell a story the more we understand our style of telling\nstories. What and how we want to see a story. I am still in a constant daily\nevolution process.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    NY Glam:<\/strong> What has been your personal key to success? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    To work\nEVERYDAY with what I believe in. I don\u2019t believe in luck, I believe in effort\nand dedication.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    NY Glam:<\/strong> What are you thinking about doing next?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cAna\u201d has\ninspired me to create something bigger, and today I\u2019m working on a project of a\nTV series called MIND, that will approach different psychological disorders, in\na plot filled with suspense and issues that need to be addressed. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    NY Glam:<\/strong> Where does your studio want to go from here?  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    To the world!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Manuela Berlanga, 33, graduated with a degree on Education in the city of S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil. After 12 years of working in the corporate world, she decided to quit her career to study film in 2014. Manuela studied screenwriting in S\u00e3o Paulo and in 2015 moved to New York to improve her studies. Back in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7322,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7321"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19384,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7321\/revisions\/19384"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nyglamour.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}