Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo) is director Joel Alfonso Vargas’s feature adaptation of his short film May it Go Beautifully for You, Rico. The film follows Rico, his family and his girlfriend as they adjust to the latter’s new pregnancy. The film is a 2025 Sundance Film Festival NEXT selection and was shot by Rufai Ajala, who also served as DP on the original short. Below, Ajala discusses translating New York’s summer heat into visuals and the advantages of shooting in New York City. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 29, 2025Joel Alfonso Vargas has adapted his short May It Go Beautifully for You, Rico into the feature-length Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo), part of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s NEXT section. The film follows the carefree Rico as he attempts to get his life together when his girlfriend gets pregnant. Editor Irfan Van Tuijl, who edited May It Go Beautifully for You, Rico reprised his roll for Mad Bills to Pay. Below, he explains what it’s like to cut a film that is composed entirely of master shots and what kind of material was left […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 29, 2025Films 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, 2025A 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