Joel Alfonso Vargas
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“For the First Time, I Could See the Film in Front of Me” | Joel Alfonso Vargas, Mad Bills to Pay
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? It would be hard to narrow it down to only one moment or day, as Mad Bills was a journey unlike any other. That we got through it was anything short of impressive considering the ambition of our story and our limited time and resources, however much a testament to the skill of the […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 26, 2025 -
100 Scenes in 16 Shooting Days: Joel Alfonso Vargas on Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo)
A sweltering summer in the Bronx serves as the backdrop for Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo), director Joel Alfonso Vargas’s first feature film. Expanding on his 34-minute short film Que te vaya bonito, Rico—which debuted at Locarno last year, receiving the Pardo di Domani best director award—the Sundance-premiering feature picks up where the short left off in the life of 19-year-old Rico (Juan Collado), a naive yet headstrong young man who makes a meager living selling nutcrackers on Orchard Beach. After he impregnates his teenage girlfriend, Destiny (Destiny Checo), he brings her home to […]
by Natalia Keogan on Jan 26, 2025 -
Joel Alfonso Vargas
Joel Alfonso Vargas’s breakthrough 2020 short, Target Is Hiring, has as its leads two “showtime” kids who breakdance mid-car while blasting their own music, a familiar NYC subway routine that generally unfolds before indifferent or outright hostile everyday commuters. This year’s Que te vaya bonita, Rico (May It Go Beautifully for You, Rico) similarly first identifies its main character by an occupation specific to the city. Rico (Juan Collado) hawks nutcracker cocktails (a mixture of liquor and fruit juice heavy on the latter) on the beach and lives at home with his mother (Yohanna Florentino) and sister (Nathaly Navarro). The […]
by Emily Huse on Sep 18, 2024
