Lucas Villamarim
“ON YOUR RADAR” IS A WEEKLY GRAD FILM NEWS SEGMENT THAT FEATURES A STUDENT PICKED AT RANDOM.
LUCAS VILLAMARIM IS CURRENTLY A 3RD YEAR STUDENT AT GRAD FILM. WE ASKED HIM A FEW QUESTIONS, AND HERE’S WHAT HE HAD TO SAY:
1. Where do you consider home and what is it like there?
I have lived in a couple of different places in my life, so I’ve become a believer in the “home is a feeling" narrative. Right now, home is Greenpoint in Brooklyn. It has been home for the past couple of years, and I love it. But if home is where I grew up and found my identity, I am a Carioca from Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, a city that marries an urban environment with sea, lagoons, mountains and tropical forests. It brings together the rich neighborhoods of Leblon and Gávea with the communities of Vidigal and Rocinha. Rio is home to samba and bossa-nova and is the birth place of the “malandro” way of life. It is a beautiful unique city that sadly is not in its best shape, for it is also the home of many of our corrupt politicians. There’s only one question that can answer all of Rio’s mysteries: Quem mandou matar Marielle?
2. What is currently inspiring you as a filmmaker?
Can your beliefs shape your reality or change the truth? I’ve been obsessed with that question. To look at an individual's belief system that is different from mine, to pinpoint what motivates them to choose A instead of B—from political choice, to religion or to just thinking Earth is flat in 2019—is to me what is behind every story I have ever told. So, to answer the question in a word: people. I’m inspired by people that are different from me. That might not be an appropriate muse to have these days, when artists should talk about what is close to them, what they know and their own experiences, so that they don’t create stereotypical narratives that perpetuate those beliefs and "truths" that are harmful. But honestly, I’m inspired by what I don’t know or understand... To make a film is to learn, to grow. And I do believe that with research, empathy and sensibility, we can learn to understand and accept each other.
3. What has been your most rewarding experience at NYU Tisch Grad Film so far?
Meeting new friends, collaborators and fellow artists that give cinema its wonderful diversity of stories and styles has the top spot. But I feel like that is the easy answer that everybody gives. Grad Film, for better or for worse, gives you a chance to discover yourself through the eyes of others, may they be faculty or peers. It teaches you what you don’t know or what you suck at—the things you need to work on so you can grow as an artist. It is a hard process to listen to all the feedback (at least for me it is), but now I know more about myself as an artist than I ever have, and it has also made me a tougher cookie. You just need to be open to listen and not be afraid of making mistakes, because you will make them anyway.