• Name: Carlos Florez
• Created on: September 14, 1984
• Record last updated on: 2008-July-17
• Homepage: carlosflorez.com
• Domain: Filmmaking, Motion Graphics
• Location: Los Angeles, California

Many of my friends who work in film often come to us asking “Who’s the next, new filmmaker?”. That’s a pretty big question despite the many submissions we receive and the amount of work that we are fortunate enough to preview. So when one of my friends introduced me to Carlos Florez at a ridiculously loud party, I took it with a grain of salt. What I didn’t expect was the amount of work Florez would shortly send to me that ended up being surprisingly fresh and inventive. We introduced Florez’s work at our last Flux screening in May at UCLA’s Hammer Museum with the music video he directed for EVA. Not only was the audience impressed, our intuition was correct that this is only the beginning of his bright future.

Tell us a little bit about your background. Are you native to Los Angeles? How did you get into filmmaking?

I’m originally from Colombia. It all started with drawing and painting, then I fell in love with graphic design, sculpture, photography, video and animation. I wanted to experiment and combine all those art mediums to explore a unique form of art that has no creative limitations. I found motion graphics. Then I went crazy. On top of that, the work of some my favorite directors like Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, Chris Cunningham totally blew my mind and inspired me to pursue my own vision. I love to tell a story in a surrealistic way, with symbolism and metaphors, married with music and sound design to fully relate to the audience. I perceive the process as making art with videos.

Let’s talk about your EVA Sekso video. I hear you got into a bit of trouble during the filming of this video - running from the cops for lack of legal permits, etc.

After jumping around from venue to venue dodging security, we got pretty good at packing up quickly and jumping right back into action. Although, we’d sometimes find ourselves in the weirdest alleys downtown we were able to improvise and make friends with curious by-standers.

Eduardo Castillo as EVA in Sekso

Can you elaborate a bit on your technique? Did you feel like the restricted shooting conditions contributed a special element of creativity to the video that might not have been there had you had the proper permits, budgets and schedules?

Sekso is based on the concept “Ignore,” which is symbolized with the life of a homeless man on city streets using body parts and invisibility. I wanted to portray a homeless person in the city who fails to adapt to the organized matrix of our society, and who is invisible to our eyes. His body breaks apart and disappears in a crowd of people as he multiplies in many areas. He perversely interweaves into a transparent subculture.

I’m detecting a strong sexual undertone - what exactly is he doing to that pipe on the wall? Is “sekso” a thematic play on the word?

The pipe needed some repair. This is an interesting song in that there aren’t any real lyrics aside from the looped vocal. It’s more of a mood piece and the visuals definitely convey a mood to match the tone of the music.

Florez’ imagination at work for Kinky

Juanes promo for mun2

How calculated is this, and how did it come about?

I listened to the mood of the song and approached the visuals to what the essence of the song made me feel.

Who is EVA?

Eva is a crazy homeless friend of mine I met on the streets who happens to play cool music…No, EVA is Eduardo Castillo, a very talented musician and friend of mine. EVA represents Eduardo’s obsession with music, sound, and texture. His attention to detail of sound and how it weaves through time is entrancing and can be both soothing and intense at the same time. He hears motion and colors before he plays a single note. It’s what inspires him.

What other facets of life are you equally passionate about other than filmmaking?
Chess!!!

If you could make a difference in the world right now, what would it be?

I would continue my art and hopefully inspire people to do what they love.

Everything fractures for Sekso