Produced following an album song Allegory of Gaby Morenothe musical short film Lament Explore a story about time, memory and places behind at the time of emigrating.
Using a shocking visual and musical narrative, the interpreter, together with the Guatemalan-American actor Tony Revolori, leads the public to enter the nostalgia that causes in the migrant to leave his earth behind.
“Sometimes, the most personal stories are the most universal,” says Moreno through social networks by presenting this majestic visual work directed by the Guatemalan Diego Contreras, who frames a futuristic environment where Moreno explores a place that he remembers of his childhood and that is disappearing.
The short film, presented by the Guatemalan artists, explores to another level the message of the unstoppable transformation of the places that migrants once called home, which led the Guatemalans to obtain six awards in the indie Short Fest.
Production of the short film
The musical short film was filmed in the old tourist complex, today in ruins, of Turicentro Likin Itzapa, a place that symbolizes how ephemeral the time is and how vulnerable things are before the claim of Mother Nature.
Under the direction of Diego Contreras, Guatemalan filmmaker, Gaby Moreno It is introduced into the prominence of this message about the transformation of the home and the trip of the migrant, together with the actor Tony Revolori, Guatemalteco-American (Spider-Man, The Grand Budapest Hotel), Where they send a message about the uprooting of home and human memory.
Next to his song also entitled LamentMoreno and Revolori enter a place of the memory of the artist who is about to disappear, where only his memories of childhood remain and the feeling that causes him to be there.
Supported by a fisherman played by Revolori, Moreno is introduced into the river to look for the old place where he once had a special memory, which the fisherman finds when touching a stone.
With the scene of a desolate place that was claimed by the sea, it seeks to eternalize, with the help of a machine of the future called Finitor, the memories of his childhood, his land and his memoirs that are on the verge of collapse.
“Sorry” Message
In an interview that Grammy winner and two Latin Grammy had with the portal Rolling Stoneexplained that this project arose from his song Lamentof the album Allegory of 2022.
“Lament He was born as a song about nostalgia, about that yearning for what we leave behind. Over time, it became something bigger: a musical short film inspired by the migrant’s trip, ”Moreno explained for Rolling Stone.
In his interview, he said that to build a musical career he had to leave his country 20 years ago and immigrate to the United States, so this staging shows the desire to hold on to memories of the home that is transformed over time.
“I always carry with me the memories, the landscapes and the emotions of my home. This short film is my way of capturing that feeling, of clinging to what we love while time and the inevitable change try to snatch it to us,” said Moreno.
What did it mean for the Guatemalans to collaborate in the project?
Together with Moreno, Tony Revolori, of Guatemalan offspring, detailed to Rolling Stone that this project had a deep meaning for its personal history.
“I felt deeply honored to film this project with Gaby. It was a special experience that allowed me to work in the country where my parents are, something truly beautiful and significant,” Reololoi explained.
This production also hit director Diego Contreras, who also produced the video of Xelajú moon by Gaby Moreno and the Guatemalan actor Óscar Isaac, who explained that he revived a part of his history in the location where the short film was filmed, since that place has an engraved memory of his childhood.
“I remember swimming there with my family in the late 80s, observing how the raging ocean hit the walls: the beginning of its decline. When I shared a preliminary version of the script to Gaby, she told me that she also kept endearing memories of her childhood in that same place. We were both deeply connected to him. Everything fit perfectly,” he said.
Gaby Moreno thanks
In his social networks, Moreno thanked his followers and who have seen this musical short film, a production that he detailed was made with “so much love”.