Inside 'Barrio Triste,' the gritty debut film by Bad Bunny collaborator Stillz

Chances are you’ve seen the enactment of Matías Vásquez, but you’ve ne'er seen his face.

Better known by his pseudonym, Stillz, the multifaceted Colombian American creator has directed 2 twelve euphony videos for Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, including those for deed tracks “Tití Me Preguntó,” “Yo Perreo Sola,” “Ojitos Lindos” and “Moscow Mule.”

But portion his collaborators — among them Rosalía, Katy Perry and Rauw Alejandro — unrecorded their lives successful the spotlight, Stillz, 27, goes to large lengths to sphere his privacy.

A bandanna covers his look for immoderate nationalist appearances, and if an interrogation isn’t happening successful person, helium avoids telephone oregon video calls. Our speech takes spot implicit substance messages.

“Being astir celebrities each the clip makes maine privation to fell myself adjacent more,” helium says (or amended said, types). “It’s ever been astir the trade archetypal for me. I started doing this precise young, truthful I’ve seen however ego tin termination idiosyncratic wrong out, adjacent the astir talented people.”

Stillz prefers to “stick to the art,” and present he’s channeled the acquisition gained from moving astir the satellite into his bold and entrancing archetypal diagnostic “Barrio Triste,” present successful theaters, which follows a radical of marginalized young men successful 1980s Medellín. They perpetrate crimes with recklessness and forge a brotherhood from shared rage and despair.

“It’s precise antithetic from my commercialized work,” helium says. “On a diagnostic film, I’m 100% successful power and I tin beryllium much vulnerable.”

American provocateur Harmony Korine (“Gummo,” “Spring Breakers”) served arsenic enforcement shaper done his EDGLRD company.

“We weren’t looking for radical who conscionable wanted to marque a precise cleanable three-act play oregon comedy, but radical who truly felt similar they were moving successful the vernacular of the newer procreation of storytellers, and Stillz was a cleanable acceptable for that,” says EDGLRD shaper Eric Kohn, besides of Colombian descent, connected Zoom.

Korine influenced Stillz to spell backmost to his roots successful Colombia, aft the first-time diagnostic manager initially considered making a task successful his hometown of Miami.

“I spent months visiting the slums of Medellín, adjacent my family’s aged workplaces and looking for a communicative wrong this discourse of existent radical with existent stories to link it to my fictional world,” helium recalls.

It was successful the 1980s that Stillz’s household near Medellín and escaped to Cartagena owed to violence. Though helium prefers not to spell into details, helium says helium thinks of “Barrio Triste” arsenic a mystical manifestation of that intergenerational trauma.

“The movie to maine is what a nightmare feels similar erstwhile you turn up listening to the murders and kidnappings of Colombia. It’s the feeling of walking down an bare hallway successful your house, there’s nary noises and each measurement you instrumentality the woody level creeks,” helium explains. “That’s what the movie is to me. It’s precise adjacent to my heart.”

Conceived arsenic recovered footage filmed from a first-person perspective, “Barrio Triste” opens with the teens stealing a camera from a TV newsman successful bid to seizure their antics. As if helium were 1 of the kids, Stillz filmed the full movie himself serving arsenic cinematographer.

“Conceptually, it comes down to my opening arsenic a skate filmer erstwhile I was 12,” Stillz says. [In the film] I operated everything myself and was capable to go 1 with the character.”

After months of preproduction, “Barrio Triste” was changeable implicit 5 days successful the barrio of El Paraíso, an often-maligned informal settlement. The accumulation had to prosecute with section transgression organizations successful bid to get support to enactment determination unbothered.

There are nary trained actors successful the film, the young men connected surface were recovered done extended thoroughfare casting astir Medellín, and their performances bespeak a operation of their lived experiences and scripted material.

“There was a precise important doctrine we stuck to, we needed to make worlds for them to bask and springiness them situations and guidance for however they would genuinely react. There’s an unthinkable realness to each their performances, it’s truly who they are,” Stillz explains.

Stillz admits helium disquieted that immoderate of the uninterrupted takes that comprise “Barrio Triste” mightiness consciousness excessively long, but to him those soundless moments walking astir Medellín’s hills let the assemblage abstraction to fto their minds roam.

“I hatred movies that don’t springiness you clip to think,” helium says. “Same arsenic music, I ever gravitate to euphony that helps you think. We unrecorded successful a satellite filled with millions of distractions and a operation of things that artifact your thinking.”

That euphony that accompanied him during the making of the movie was that of Venezuelan physics creator Arca, who created archetypal tracks for “Barrio Triste.”

“I’m truthful utilized to having euphony usher my visuals, truthful I conscionable did the aforesaid reasoning for the film. Her archetypal medium guided maine passim the film,” helium says. “Then I had to find a mode for her to align with maine to people it, and that was different cross-world adventure, but we got it done successful Tokyo.”

Now that “Barrio Triste” is being unleashed, aft it premiered astatine the Venice International Film Festival past year, Stillz wants to submerge himself successful its synths much than its pixels.

“I privation to workout watching the movie successful a theatre adjacent week with my eyes closed arsenic well, since I’ve seen it 1,000 times already,” helium says. “There indispensable beryllium antithetic ways to acquisition it. Hopefully nary 1 notices me. I’ll beryllium trying the late-night screenings successful a hoodie,” helium types, ending with an “Lol.”

Bad Bunny has besides already watched the film. The accumulation rented a theatre successful San Juan to surface it for the Grammy-winning creator a fewer months ago.

“It was peculiarly peculiar for maine that helium was capable to spot a antithetic and much idiosyncratic broadside of my work,” Stillz says astir his über-famous person watching his archetypal film. “It’s much experimental but I’m definite helium tin archer however profoundly idiosyncratic it is.”

Their ongoing originative confederation is the effect of a genuine relationship betwixt them that started successful 2018 erstwhile Stillz was archetypal hired arsenic Bad Bunny’s circuit photographer.

“I’ve seen him turn up; he’s seen maine turn up. He’s my large member successful everything I bash creatively and besides successful existent life,” Stillz says astir his enslaved with Bad Bunny. “We grew up unneurotic and similar a batch of the aforesaid things, arsenic good arsenic disagree [on] a batch of things.”

Stillz adjacent directed the teaser for Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX halftime show.

Born and raised successful Miami, Stillz didn’t turn up astir art, “just paintings of Jesus Christ.” His involvement successful image-making and cameras came from documenting skateboarding (not dissimilar filmmakers helium admires, similar Spike Jonze oregon Korine himself).

“I ne'er knew I wanted to enactment successful this. I don’t attraction astir being a large movie director, I ne'er did,” helium says. “I emotion the accidental of learning caller mediums and being capable to research my feelings and my past done my work.”

His identity, helium says, feels astatine times much Colombian and others much American. Though having visited Cartagena each twelvemonth increasing up, it’s Colombia that speaks to him spiritually.

“I’m from Miami, and to maine Miami is not similar the remainder of the U.S.,” helium says. “My archetypal connection is Spanish, my 2nd is English. All my friends and everyone successful my nationalist schools grew up trying to larn English.”

All of these aspects of who helium is, including not showing his look and existing publically arsenic Stillz, play a relation successful the instinctual rawness oregon “realness” that has defined his vocation frankincense far.

“I similar the equilibrium betwixt gathering unthinkable radical astir the satellite and past being capable to bash immoderate I consciousness similar arsenic conscionable a regular person, nary 1 bothers you,” helium explains. “Sometimes they adjacent dainty you similar crap erstwhile they don’t cognize who you are, past idiosyncratic tells them and radical marque a afloat 180, it’s beauteous funny. But I’m precise shy, low-key.”

If you privation to cognize who helium is, look lone astatine what helium shares successful his originative output. The answers, helium says, are ever there. “The satellite is simply a weird place, and I privation radical to absorption connected what I make, not me,” Stillz adds. “You tin spot maine done my work. Just survey that.”