Andrés Broennimann

My mother gave me my first video camera on my 8th birthday. “Make your stories come to life” she said, “There’s no need to watch movies if you can make them”. As an autodidactic child, I taught myself to create. Experimentation was the engine of my creativity, and while the rest of the kids spent their childhood watching movies, I was making them instead. Soon I saw my life as a movie and the camera as an extension of my body.

The process I create each story or movie consists on first imagining a “perfect scene” (perfect music, cast, scenography) and then creating stories surrounding them, so later on I can put scenes together into a “perfect: film. I use my creativity to make connections between the scenes. In each movie I try to be as innovative as possible in terms of film. I want my movies to have my own style: a mixture of artistic scenes and breathtaking plots. I want to evoke intense feelings in my audience, make them feel my thoughts and transport them through my imagination.

My philosophy and views of the world were forged because of my direct encounter with diversity in various ways. In 2011 I won a scholarship to attend UWC Costa Rica, a boarding school where students are selected from around the globe. This opportunity allowed me to see the world from different perspectives through interacting with various cultures. This shift of views generated a metamorphosis in my filmmaking, radically evolving the purpose of cinema for me: not only to entertain but to make an impact. I have a duty as a visual communicator to use my cinematic skills as a vehicle to empower minorities.

Finally, for my last project : "The UWC Spirit", I travelled the world making a documentary, living a nomadic life and being exposed to inspiration every day. I found the essence of myself in this trip through life changing experiences that have influenced me to fight for my goals more than ever, as my filmmaking improves exponentially.