The Mexican actor-turned-director wrapped the Disney+ series last year, and is currently at the San Sebastián Film Festival with his latest directorial effort, 'Ashes' Diego Luna, who is at the San Sebastián Film Festival with his latest directorial project, “Ashes,” spoke about the differences between being on a festival run with an independent film and working on major Hollywood projects like “Andor.” Luna played the titular character in the Disney+ “Star Wars” spinoff, which ended with its second season last year. His work on the show earned him two Golden Globe nominations for best actor. Then there’s the other kind of cinema, films that lack that vision, that seek only to please, and generally don’t let you be who you want to be.
That’s the kind of cinema that gets forgotten very quickly.” Luna mentioned how he is currently working hard to make sure “Ashes” is seen, and that audiences go to cinemas for the film. You come home, and something reminds you it’s already there. There is a level of attention, sure, but that becomes affection and a sense of companionship.
It’s really lovely, and it spans generations. You encounter it in so many places and from so many angles: affection from people discovering it for the first time, and from others revisiting something that unlocks their childhood memories. It’s an experience I can’t compare to anything else, and it’s unlikely it’ll happen to me again.” “Ashes” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.
It is adapted from a novel by Brenda Navarro and follows 21-year-old Lucila (Anna Díaz) and her brother Diego (Sergio Bautista) as they struggle to adjust to life in Madrid. Their mother (Adriana Paz) relocated to the city years ago in search of a better job, a decision that left her kids to grapple with feelings of abandonment and resentment. Speaking at the Variety Lounge last month, Luna emphasized how he made the film to bring forward a different perspective on immigration.
When an audience member asked Luna whether he believes more films about immigration should be made given the tense rhetoric around the subject worldwide—including Trump’s boost of ICE and Spain’s conflicts around Ceuta—the actor-turned-director said the question could have been asked 10 years ago, and will remain relevant a decade from now. There are multiple reasons for it today: violence, economic mobility, the climate crisis. It’as an endless list, but the fact remains that people will keep moving, and the issue lies on how we receive them.
How do we welcome people? I think that’s where the chance for transformation lies, for us to change these encounters that are often so hostile for those who move.” Luna said that it boils down to “curiosity” and caring about understanding the stories behind immigration. Cinema is a space that invites you not to lose a curiosity about people you don’t know.
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