Laying down in bed one night in a half awake half asleep state of mind, 19 year old Maria Fernanda ‘Mafe’ Martin picked up her phone and recorded a voice memo with a story that would soon become her first short film, now with over six thousand views on Youtube.
Martin’s first real world connection with the film industry happened in May 2021, as she stepped in a set for an advertisement in her Brazilian hometown.
“It was an amazing experience,” Martin said. “Even if it was very short and even if I didn’t work that much,it made me understand more,it made me see more so I would say that was very important to me”.
It was shortly before that, that she realized she wanted to professionally join the industry. For most of her life, Martin wanted to be a Journalist or a book writer, she just loved telling stories. During her junior year of high school she came to the conclusion that she could tell her stories through movies. As a movie fan and storytelling lover, she managed to put those two pieces together and cleared her mind on her future.
‘Branco’, or ‘White’ in the English translation was Martin’s first project.
“What would frighten me the most about film making was like, how do I start?,” Martin said. “How do I get to start my first project really? And what do I do with that? Because I didn’t have the experience back then and differently from an actor where you could take theater classes and acting classes, you could participate in advertisements and plays and movies, if you are a filmmaker you need to film make, and that is extremely hard.”
The active film making process of Branco took around six months, however the entirety of the project took over a year, which included time dedicated to gathering money, people, and finding a place to shoot. It wasn’t easy, but Martin’s big ambitions made it enjoyable. After long days and nights of dedication, Branco was released on Jan. 15 2022, her 19th birthday.
“I really wanted it to be my birthday because it’s a present for my birthday,” Martin said. “But for people, and I really like this symbolism.”
The short film is three minutes and forty seconds long, and it presents a story that leaves the audience reflecting on what they watched. Though there are lines in Brazilian Portuguese and there are English subtitles available, non-Portuguese speakers could watch the film and understand the message through the setting, colors, and expressions.
“I don’t really like talking about the story itself because it is really short,” Martin said. “So I just say that you need to watch it to understand, otherwise it gives away everything and I like that everybody is establishing different conclusions and thoughts about it, that’s exactly what I wanted people to do — to think about it and process it in different ways and matters.”
Martin aims to be known for originality, and has Christopher Nolan as a huge inspiration. She hopes one day people think she’s as original as Nolan, Martin Scorsese, or Quentin Tarantino. Before reaching that level, Martin has to deal with one of the biggest struggles anyone in this industry goes through — money.
“For a project to be good enough to be seen by people and for them to in the first 5 seconds not give up on what they’re seeing is to have quality,” Martin said. “But quality sadly sometimes requires a lot of money.”
The film industry works around attention, and for one to be successful, they need to be able to sell their product. Gathering people’s attention for Martin includes everyone, not a specific demographic or age group. She wants her products to be appreciated by different age groups, generations, and types of people, and these people are the ones who motivate her to keep going.
“I rely a lot on the people close to me to get my energy,” Martin said. “So knowing that I have not just my friends and my family but a community of people around the internet who wanna pay attention to what I do and are willing to give a little of their time just to give me some positive words and to tell me that they like my work and that they like my videos, my short film, that absolutely motivates you a lot.”
The internet is a great place for aspiring film makers to see what they are getting themselves into. Interviews, behind the scenes videos, even pictures of set life, are a motivation. There are also a vast amount of videos where famous directors give advice and words of encouragement for those who wish to be in their place one day.
Artistic communities require support. It’s hard to start, and even harder to keep going, but people find a safe place to share their struggles and ask for help when needed, along with receiving love after each little step. Many of them don’t have family or friends to hold their hands through tough times.
“I think that me and other kinds of filmmakers have some sort of power towards other artists and other people who wanna also participate on this journey,” Martin said. “So I think if we don’t motivate ourselves and each other, we don’t have much support from many other people besides that.”
Martin dreams of leaving her hometown and move to Sao Paulo, a city known for being a good place for artists, and eventually even New York or Los Angeles. She dreams of one day being a full time director and screenwriter, and making a difference not only in the fill community, but the greater society.
“I wanna do charity, I wanna help out other artists out there even if it’s just through an online workshop just talking to people,” Martin said. “But I wanna have a good power and a good influence over people. But before that I need to build up my career, I’ve already started pretty well in the last four months, so my goal is to keep going in the rhythm that I’m going and getting the attention that I get and the experience that I’m getting, getting all the love and support I’ve been getting from people, I feel like that’s incredibly important as well.”
