Writer-director Julio Torres joins forces with A24 to release his debut feature film ‘Problemista.’
Julio Torres, the brilliantly funny and observant, SNL writer plays Alejandro, an aspiring designer from El Salvador.
Creatives will relate, as Alejandro struggles to bring his unusual ideas to life in New York City. With a soon-to-expire work visa, his only hope of staying in the country and realising his dream is to take an assistant job with an unhinged art-world outcast — played by Tilda Swinton.
Starring, written and directed by Julio and narrated by Isabella Rossellini, Problemista is a surreal adventure addressing ‘the equally treacherous worlds of New York City and the U.S. immigration system.
It’s about people who are going through these impossible journeys, who have these huge Quixote-like dreams…
Writer-Director-Star, Julio Torres on Problemista
“It’s about people who are going through these impossible journeys, who have these huge Quixote-like dreams and want to go about them in the most specific, un-compromising ways,” explains Julio.
The cast features: Tilda Swinton, Julio Torres, RZA, Greta Lee, Catalina Saavedra, James Scully, Larry Owens, Laith Nakli, Kelly McCormack, Spike Einbinder, Greta Titelman, River L. Ramirez.
The trailer hints to movie fans flavours of Mike mills and a contemporary take on the style Michel Gondry blessed the world with: by making Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
With important relevancy throughout the plot, woven into off-beat comedy and imaginative quandary’s for Alejandro it has all the right the ingredients. This is the movie indie creatives and film fanatics alike have been waiting for. Julio explains, it’s “drawing attention to mundane things that we see all around us, but seeing them, not with a mocking light, but with a curious light.”
“What I understood subconsciously then, I understand at face value now, which is that the journey was important.” Torres says. “All these problems weren’t obstacles, they were the thing. They weren’t a wall on my way to life–they were life!”
Produced by: Julio Torres, Dave McCary, Ali Herting, Emma Stone.
Distributed by A24
Release: Friday, 4th August 2023
Run Time: 104 minutes. Photo Credit: A24
