Diego Vicentini ’16

I wanted to use filmmaking to let the world know what’s happening in Venezuela. I love my country. I loved growing up there. But the country kept getting worse and worse. Kidnappings were frequent. Being out at night was dangerous. Our home was broken into. The economy collapsed and people were starving. We left when I was fifteen years old.

The story I had in my heart was about the guilt of not being there to fight for it. The tension between your right to individual happiness versus the responsibility to the collective. I felt this reflected in so many of the freedom fighters I interviewed as research for the film. They went through so much, yet still felt guilty about being away and seeking asylum. The decision to make the lead in Simón a college student was kind of automatic. If I’m going to lift up and give a voice to anyone, it’s going to be the youth. They’re always the most political.

From the moment I started the script, I knew I’d never be able to go back until the regime changed. But then I did, for the Venezuelan Film Festival. I had to represent the movie, which is about the idea that risk and sacrifice are required to gain something. We had a chauffeur on standby in case I needed to go quickly. There were military dressed as civilians at the festival. The experience was intense, at times threatening. The morning after the festival, we were in the car about ten minutes from the border when I got a text from someone I know that just said, “Leave now.” The adrenaline! It was just like a movie.

Simón was the most-seen movie in Venezuela in years. It grew and grew. Netflix picked it up. It reached the top ten worldwide for non-English-language movies. It was so rewarding to share with people, to reach them emotionally so they feel connected to this issue.

It builds empathy for the situation in Venezuela specifically, but it’s also a cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy. Generation by generation, we must defend the systems we value. We cannot take them for granted. ◽