In 2020, Mexican actor and director Diego Luna (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”, “Narcos: Mexico”) decided to seat numerous journalists, intellectuals, writers and other personalities to talk and debate on various social issues and political issues while sharing a dinner. The “Pan y Circo” series, which can be seen on Amazon Prime Video, won two Daytime Emmy Awards for Best Program in Spanish. And now, in 2022, it’s back with new themes and perspectives. For the third episode of this second season, which is titled “Discriminate in Spanish” and which is already available on the platform, he came to Madrid to explore how Latin American and Spanish communities need to initiate a dialogue.
On the occasion of the recent premiere, at eCartelera we had the opportunity to sit down with Luna himself to talk about the conflicts that emerged during the episode, as well as the dynamics of the program. “‘Pan y Circo’ is talking about what we cannot stop talking about at the table. We bring to the table the issues that matter most to us, that worry us the most. And the table is given an opportunity that is not given later in the conversation on social networks and other less intimate circles. At a meal you sit down to share something very important with another person, you don’t sit down to eat with anyone “says the Mexican.
Unity is strength
The fundamental idea of the series is to be able to broaden the horizons and points of view of the spectators so that they form a much more precise idea. And, in case they consider themselves wrong, they can change it if any of the arguments convince them. “At the table we give ourselves the opportunity not only to talk about our perspective but also to contrast points of view and listen. In a few places it has happened to me that my perspective or point of view changes and transforms as much as at the table”Luna ensures. “At the table I was able to listen to the most interesting and fundamental voices of my life. I had the opportunity to change my mind. And this is what ‘Pan y Circo’ is about, the intimacy and communion that sitting down to eat and share the foodconcludes the first reflection.
For this reason, the actor found it transcendental to address the similarities, differences and bilateral relationships between the Spanish-speaking community: “Speaking of this problem … It is a very important topic. It is an argument that the program makes clear that there is a brutal need to reflect back and forth on this relationship. In this polarization that is feeding us and that hurts us so much. And it is also important not to overlook what has already been done, what is happening. Sometimes we forget where we come from, who we are and how close we could be, how much we could do together. “. For this, it was essential to localize the debate in Madrid. “The program was an attempt to do that, to say ‘let’s see, let’s go out and set the table elsewhere, in a city like Madrid, where today there are so many people from so many places, people of such different cultures living together and sharing. . A city that is also small, where there is constant interaction ‘. In this sense, I found it very interesting to talk about what is already happening. Because in Madrid it already happens, in Mexico it already happens. In Mexico, the Spanish community is huge and recent history doesn’t need to go far back, it needs to be analyzed and told “, he argues. Luna states that the purpose of the chapter “This is something that is happening today, that is already happening to us today, and that clearly after organizing this dinner is looking forward to it. It seemed to me that the contrast that occurred at that table, the discussion they generated some questions, he clarified that this is a conversation that if we do not have shortly pressures will be generated that can make this thing go wrong “.
Against the politics of hate
When asked about the nationalist and xenophobic discourses linked to radical political movements, Luna is clear “Today there is a big challenge ahead of us. Calming this attempt to divide, to respond in an irreparable or irreparable way and to feed a rift that for some is very profitable. We must fight those nationalisms that already lose all consistency towards you against us that does a lot of damage to assimilate or accept”. This is what your program is for, to give us the opportunity to understand ourselves and forget futile wars: “‘Pan y Circo’ is an effort to listen to each other, to understand each other, to talk about respect, to talk about openness, understanding, curiosity. That curiosity is not lost because it is very dangerous”.
“These are the easiest speeches to understand and propagate because it seems very fertile ground in terms of promoting and propagating that ignorance”, Keep it up. His vision, despite everything, is optimistic: “When we stop and listen to each other, when we ask ourselves the right questions and patiently try to understand each other, we realize that there is much more that unites us, that there are great challenges that unite us. There are great challenges that unite us, we share those outstanding challenges and issues. And therefore the answer and the solution can also be in an articulated and consensual action “.
The voice of the intellectuals
A small number of activists and communication or society professionals sit at the “Pan y Circo” table. But, in addition, the series features small interviews in which Luna talks directly with leading names in culture, such as Fernando Trueba, Bárbara Lennie, Joaquín Sabina … “Despite having worked with him, I know him well and admire him a lot, the story of Jorge Drexler struck me. I thought it was a great example of saying a lot of what I wanted to say without having to go beyond telling an anecdote. It seemed very nice to me. That by telling the anecdote of Jorge Drexler and his life today and where he comes from, ends up saying a lot of what the program meant “.exposes happy. “I was also very grateful to know the teacher Sabina, personally it was very nice to have that interview with him. And I was very surprised by Diego Guerrero, who had an interview with him that this material would have given to make a program from lonely. He’s very lucid and has an overwhelming clarity that I’m very grateful for. Another story that seems good to me to understand what we’re talking about is that of Bárbara Lennie. I left with a good feeling that I have approached many beings who are a clear example of what we are capable of. This really turned me on. It would be unfair not to tell them all. For example, the Niño de Elche, son of a bitch, what I say there is true. Listening to him was very interesting and taking him with me … Today I already know him, now I can learn more about what he does and excites me a lot, and he puts me in contact with this country because I am very interested in finding him “points to Luna, naming just a few of the many faces circulating in the episode.
In fact, Luna acknowledges that all of these interventions have already been measured before starting to record: “The advantage is that we have studied the characters, investigated, investigated, traced lines of ideas, we advised ourselves very well here in Spain and we had an interesting team. Not just the team we worked with in Mexico, but we had the opportunity to get closer and closer the format to a team here that has helped us get to where we are. Not only in the execution but also in the planning, even in the articulation of the speech. We didn’t do it alone. And those voices that joined and that work time is reflected in whoever sits. Nobody sits at the table of ‘Pan y Circo’ if we don’t know what they can bring to the table, what they can contribute “. So, it summarizes “so there is a deep previous research work, things are not left to chance or improvisation. Sometimes we are surprised by the characters, but at least we know we want him to repeat something he has already said. Then it turns out that yes, when Jorge Volpi starts talking you realize that today he is living there. Today he lives in Spain on behalf of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and has the task of looking for those bridges, of establishing those bridges between Mexico and Spain. And he has the argument on the surface and could lead the program. It is the good fortune of having chosen well »..
the magic of television
In fact, ‘Pan y Circo’ has a very well constructed and balanced background structure. Luna barely participates in the dialogue during dinner, but she is the one who articulates everything. “I’m not interested in making a program to tell people what I think about the subject. I am interested in making a program where I can share with the public all those voices that allow me to have a speech, a position and a point of view. And often I am the one who comes out of these dinners the most transformed. The program is where it ends. But the moment I write is when I edit. The editing is done by me, I am very involved in the editing process. We are a team but I get involved deeply because that’s where the speech is defined “To explain.
“But for me the speech is much more interesting if others say it than if I say it, how boring. This is where the program is interesting, because it is about diverting the attention of the public to where we want to suggest, where we believe they should listen I mean, I’m very interested in listening to this character’s voice and listening to this character, and listening to his anecdote. It’s a kind of curating that I have to do here. “, analyzes his work in ‘Pan y Circo’. That yes, even if the protagonism vanishes at dinner, it is he who takes care of the role of moderator, raising the topics that will be treated and looking for points in common: “I try to guide dinner so that it reaches a positive conclusion and doesn’t end up with everyone throwing dishes at their heads. This also applies to me. But you don’t see it at all. The edition deals with the articulation of the speech that took place in three hours but which can be seen in 40 minutes “.
Of course, amidst so many cuts in post-production, there are a lot of issues that get lost in favor of a dynamic audiovisual experience. “A lot of things are left to me, to the point that I thought that if I didn’t have to do another episode with the same theme. Because I feel that not only have I left a lot of things in the inkwell, but also the characters in the interviews, I had a lot of things left.anticipates Luna, who does not see very badly the idea of giving him a continuation. “I have missed an important point which is the artistic influence of the Anglo-Saxon industry in the world of music or cinema. And how difficult it is for those of us who speak one language to interact when there is such a bombardment of content that comes in another language that isn’t ours. This is another type of colonialism that I would like to discuss someday and that was discussed but was not on the agenda. “reveals the director, who clarifies it as a theme “there are many others” They also didn’t make the final cut.
Source: E Cartelera
