On Your Radar: Cinthya Franco
On Your Radar is a Grad Film News segment that features a current student. We asked Cinthya Franco a few questions and this is what she said.
Where do you consider home and what is it like there?
I grew up in Guayaquil, juggling between city life and rural Ecuador, oftentimes visiting my grandparents on my mother's side. It's a tiny country, but with beautiful, drastically diverse landscapes just a few hours apart, it's a very charming place. Before enrolling at NYU, I lived in Miami for a few years, and I still consider it home. As I've moved around quite a bit, I've learned that home isn't really about one singular place but more about creating your own sacred space wherever you are. With the constant movement of the past few years, it's been important to me to make wherever I'm living feel familiar, finding neighborhoods or spots that give me that sense of familiarity.
What is currently inspiring you as a filmmaker?
Landscapes. I took a Utah/Arizona road trip this past summer and experienced landscapes I'd never seen before, ones I couldn't even really compare to anything else. There were so many otherworldly places, particularly this spot called Moonscape Landing, that have stayed with me ever since. I think about that trip often, and I'm inspired to incorporate these landscapes into future projects. The smaller, rural American towns I passed through and stayed in have been equally as inspiring to me, and I'd love to explore that thread in more depth as well.
What is your most treasured possession?
A red chili pepper necklace I've been wearing for around four years. It was gifted to me, and in Italian culture, it's meant to bring good luck, though you have to receive it as a gift for it to "work." I honestly can't believe I haven't lost or broken it yet, but it's somehow become part of my identity in a funny way. I think about how sad I'd be if I ever lost it, which probably says something about what it means to me. It's been with me through a lot of movement and change in my life, and I kind of see it as protection.
@cinthyaft (instagram)