We recently connected with Hector Prats and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Hector thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

A project that has moved me deeply, from its inception through its making, is the latest short film I co-wrote and directed, “El Silencio Loco” (“The Crazy Silence”). The film is about the unlikely meeting of two strangers that leads to their mutual healing. It is a hopeful daydream confronting the all-consuming fear of losing a loved one, drawing from a compulsion I had as a kid of thinking about family members or myself dying, as a way to proactively cope with that fear. Our protagonist Myra was born from reimagining the deep connection I have with my sister, Emma. Our communication is singular, unique to our shared way of seeing the world, so much that if one of us disappeared, our “language” would die, with seemingly no way of replicating it with anyone else. We make up stories to tell to strangers, for our sheer amusement. Our understanding transcends words, sometimes exchanged through just a look. These interactions generate precious memories that, now living a continent away from Emma, I find myself trying to recreate with others.
After a close friend told me about his brother’s sudden passing, I started reflecting on how we react to big life changes while being away from “home”. As a son of immigrants, I notice whenever big changes happen back home, I feel shielded, removed from them. Through long-distance breakups or news of friends’ loss, I realize this sense of detachment, and I relate to how our co-protagonist Omar protects his own sanity, but still looks for kinship.
I am lucky to not have experienced great loss yet, the kind I feared as a kid. Still, finding myself in a foreign place, the physical absence of lifelong loved ones has made me seek familiar connections. “El Silencio Loco” is an affirmation that whenever life shakes us with changes and we feel alone, we can encounter kindred souls in strangers, to connect, heal, and grow.

A bit about the film’s story: When her dead brother’s boat turns up 8 months after it was lost at sea, Myra returns to a familiar seaside town to deal with it. There, she is drawn to Omar, a man who knew her brother, and as an inevitable connection forms between them, he begins to take on the role of her absent sibling.

“El Silencio Loco” is like going to Disneyland when you’re an adult. A bit bittersweet. In this case, Disneyland is actually the festival you remember from your childhood, and this time you’re going alone.
There’s a duality that extends throughout the film, through every character, location, every emotional beat. The essence of “El Silencio Loco” is dark and light, absurd and grounded, tragic and fun.
Between the realms of tragicomedy, absurd humor, and magical realism, the story leads us on a journey from the real world to an intimate, mystical dream.
In complement to tone, the film’s look is of two minds: Inside the frame, it has a naturalistic approach, whereas the composition will be distinctly formal. Every frame is a seduction of sorts, a visual retreat for both Myra and the audience. We aim for an equilibrium between experiential and observational perspectives. Our shooting format of 35mm film supports this aesthetic and practical approach.

The project is currently in post-production. Heather Francis is the lead producer and co-writer of the project. We are collaborating with local production companies Vivir Rodando and Corte A Films in Catalonia.
For the character of Myra, we worked with Catalan actor and director Elena Martín, recent Winner of Best European Film at the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival for “Creatura” (2023), and lead in the short film “Watermelon Juice”, that played Berlinale and TIFF, and won the Goya and Gaudí Academy awards.
For the character of Omar, we are working with Senegalese actor Amadou Mbow, co-lead in “Atlantique” (2019), the Winner feature film of the Cannes Festival Grand Prix.
Artur-Pol Camprubí (“Podul de Pietra”, 2021 – San Sebastian Film Festival NEST section) is our cinematographer.
The project has received support from Indian Paintbrush, in partnership with Columbia University, as well as the Columbia University School of the Arts Dean’s Project Grant.

Our production collaborated with the town of l’Ametlla de Mar, as well as its Tourism and Environment local offices. We also collaborated with several local fishermen, being guided by them for open sea and boat scenes. We did not bring artificial light to the location and left a minimal footprint using reusable food and beverage containers.
The cast is diverse and true to the local people in the shooting area, with the presence of both white Catalan people and South-Saharan immigrant people co-existing in the ecosystem of the town, the pier, and its festival. We cast several local people for the festival scenes and contracted local businesses.

Hector, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I shot my first music video when I was 13 years old. Three friends and I set out to make a mock music video for Eminem. We didn’t know what we were doing. The video was selected to be aired in a national TV contest, and I have been redeeming myself for it ever since.

I started directing real music videos during college, discovering local musicians from Barcelona and convincing friends to shoot crazy ideas for them. I also worked as a film critic, youth jury, and press at film festivals, and performed all kinds of crew jobs for film and documentary productions, as well as ghostwriting for commercial directors.

That way, I ended up directing commercials myself. This seemed like a great way to exercise my craft in filmmaking for pre-production, on set and post-production for short format and tight timeline projects. My main creative focus for years was directing music videos. I worked with German artist Roosevelt, receiving the Best Young Director Award at Soundie Music Video Awards 2017 for our Moving On clip; and collaborated with Spanish band Viva Suecia, for which our clip got nominations as one of the 18 best music videos of the year 2018 by MTV Spain, and Best Music Video at Premios MIN 2019.

Currently, while working on my own narrative projects, my main business bridges film, music, and advertising. I collaborate with brands, businesses, clients, and other artists, to whom I offer my creative services to develop and produce branded films, commercials, and music videos. The compelling storytelling I am used to generating in fiction can be shaped in many forms of content. For part of these productions, I am currently represented by the production company and creative agency Iconoclast in Spain, while I work freelance on some other projects.

Beyond my will to make films lies the desire to pass on any useful know-how I can provide to aspiring filmmakers through conveying my personal experience, at the same time as I learn from their own process and the privileged mentoring of professionals in the craft. For the last two years, I have been teaching the Fiction Filmmaking Lab to undergraduate film students at Columbia University, during the Fall semester. It is extremely engaging to be a part of this academic environment providing a hands-on approach to film as a mentor while being an active professional in the industry.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

In Spain, some of my friends from college had applied and got support from the La Caixa Foundation Fellowship to extend post-graduate studies. It seemed to offer an incredible opportunity to specialize in a field of work, to connect with professionals, and to get a sense of the industry internationally. While being highly specific in terms of age range, required, and desired educational level, these fellowships are very rightfully designed for those moments in one’s life and career when pivoting seems essential, but a push is needed.

The La Caixa Fellowship not only supported me in studying and covered expenses for a Masters’ Degree tuition, as well as my living in the United States, but also boosted the possibilities of the film projects I started at Columbia, and keeps on offering networking and publicity opportunities through their alumni program. Like this one, more fellowships exist, and they provide a breath of fresh air and a solid opportunity to pivot and specialize. I appreciate the time I spent developing myself professionally before making use of this select resource, but “going back to school” is never a bad idea to re-direct one’s goals.

Have you ever had to pivot?

After finishing my college studies, I immediately started working as a content creator for the technological startups accelerated by the company Wayra. There I quickly established professional connections, and in 2015 I launched myself as a freelance filmmaker and content creator. I took on this quest because I felt able and willing to carry out projects on my own, and it made me realize that it is vital to organize a team of competent people around you to succeed. I gradually approached advertising and film production companies, with which I initially collaborated in ghostwriting treatments for directors. Ghostwriting for other directors was a very helpful learning, teaching me how to put a film onto paper, and use adequate references, images, and words to share the vision one has in mind. This led me to enter the director roster of production companies like Division Q, Animals Films, Oxígeno Producciones, Vice Spain, and the agency Kings & Queens. In 2017 I directed the music video for “Moving On”, by Roosevelt. This project meant a turning point in my career and it is still one of the main pieces in my reel, often being the reason for receiving proposals for new projects.

The career as a director I led up until 2019 in the commercial world provided me with plenty of tools to perform with efficiency in short-term projects, but I felt I had arrived at a point of creative stagnation. The fast-paced and briefing requirements offered great training for project resolution, but the creative challenges the commercial industry usually presents are limited. I wanted to approach long-format filmmaking, and studying a graduate program seemed like the best endeavor to provide me with the finessing tools to achieve such a project.

In 2019, I applied for the Fundació La Caixa fellowship to pursue postgraduate studies. After a long wait and a thorough interview process, I was fortunate enough to be granted the fellowship. I applied to several Film MFA programs across the US and ended up choosing Columbia University’s MFA in Film in New York, specializing in Directing and Screenwriting. There I directed the shorts “El Silencio Loco”, my thesis and currently in post-production; “Heaven is Nobody’s”, which is premiering shortly; and “Enloquecer”, which screened at Palm Springs Shortfest 2022, got an Honorable mention as Best Narrative Short Film at Tacoma Film Festival 2022, and then was Vimeo Staff Pick and Short of the Week.

The decision to momentarily move away from a steady flow of commercial work in order to go back to school and fortify my filmmaking principles undoubtedly paid off. The expertise in film I acquired at Columbia now allows me to develop content, commercial, and music video projects that exist outside of the box, exceed expectations, and connect to audiences through cinematic narratives.

Contact Info:

• Website: hectorprats.tv
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hectorpratsc/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hectorpratsc/
• Other: https://vimeo.com/hectorprats

Image Credits
Nacha Aljaro Lydia Monterde Pol Renom Jeremy Gumener Michael Cong Mario Lerma Alejandro Rapariz