Tania Hermida is an independent filmmaker with a vision to show truth and important stories. Best known for her role as second assistant director for the Oscar-nominated independent film "Maria Full of Grace," her first feature film "Que tan lejos" (How much further), which will be shown at the upcoming Gainesville Latino Film Festival, was a product of her desire to create a "road film."
"Since I was in film school, I was drawn to the road, films where the trip and road experiences are alike coming of age stories," Hermida, 39, said.
"I come from Ecuador, so I knew I wanted the Andes, the sun, and the fog and the landscape as part of the story," Hermida explained. "I wanted to have two women characters with two different points of view, an Ecuadorian girl and a Spanish girl who's a tourist."
The film follows two women traveling to the city of Cuenca in Ecuador. They cannot take the bus because of a worker's strike, so they decide to hitchhike.
"The way they see the world is different-maybe even opposite," Hermida said. "They meet other characters along the way and find out that the destination itself is not important, but what they learned along the way."
Hermida said she always knew she wanted to do something creative but wasn't drawn to filmmaking until she went to the archives and started watching independent European films from the '50s and '60s. She said there was no film school in Ecuador, so she applied and was granted a fellowship to the International Film and Television school in Cuba.
She said her work on "Maria Full of Grace" was quite an experience as it was her first time working with an independent film crew from the United States.
"It was interesting to see the film come to life, amazing to see it finished," Hermida said.
The film, which takes place in Colombia, was actually shot in Ecuador.
"Colombia was too dangerous," Hermida said. "But even the Colombians didn't realize it wasn't shot in Colombia."
She said she also got to see how director Joshua Marston operated.
"Every director has his or her own way of dealing with actors," Hermida said. "It's very interesting to see how you can work with people who have no experience and see a very professional response."
While Hermida is divorced and lives on her own, she still has a very close relationship with her family, especially her parents. Hermida said her mother helped with fund-raising for "Que tan lejos" and was one of the film's executive producers.
Hermida has no children.
"In Ecuador, at some point you have to choose between being a mother or a job. Filmmaking is very risky in terms of economy," Hermida said. "It's not like other jobs where you have a check at the end of every month. You have to travel a lot, too, but I had to choose. And I chose film. I am very happy with it. "
Hermida also brought filmmaking to politics. In 2007 she was elected as a representative for the Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly.
"As filmmakers, we started getting together with political goals," Hermida said.
She said she was asked to be on a list of candidates. Hermida said that at first she declined but realized it would be important to have some things in the constitution.
She said that political culture was an important issue and needed to be included in public policies. She said the constitution is ready and going to referendum. Hermida explained that it is a "declaration of culture" that will help promote the cultural diversity inside the country.
Hermida said her next film project is in its beginning stages, but she won't reveal any details. She did say that it will not be another road story.
Hermida also said that she reads a lot, particularly essays. Right now, she's reading an essay about how the Ecuadorian culture has evolved from the colonial period and is in the stages of discovering its new identity.
"The good thing about filmmaking in my country is that you can start to let people believe everyone's story is important," Hermida said. "And because it's a human story, it doesn't matter where it takes place, whether in New York, Gainesville, Ecuador or Timbuktu."
