HFJ @ AFF '24: Interview with Dani Hurtado, Director of Affogato

Dani Hurtado, writer and director of Affogato, photographed by Ziming Xie

Today we’re joined by Dani Hurtado, writer, star, and director of the short film Affogato, which screened at the 2024 Austin Film Festival. Affogato follows a struggling actress as she attempts to record an audition tape that begins to mirror her own reality. Dani is a first-time filmmaker who was able to use her experienced actor brain to craft a superbly tense, warm, and guilty environment for this short film. 

The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Was there anyone that you would watch, maybe another directorial debut, or anything you saw and wanted to ape that style a little bit?

One of my inspirations, and part of the reason I got inspired to act as the lead, direct, and write it was because of another Austin filmmaker, Noël Wells. I don't know if you've seen her film, Mr. Roosevelt, but that was also shot in Austin. It's a very Austin-y film. I think that was my North Star, because at first I was trying to see if maybe I would have someone else direct this piece—just because it seems like I'm wearing too many hats. I don't know how I'm going to be able to navigate all that. But, after seeing Mr. Roosevelt and seeing how she directed it, and starred as a lead, and it was shot in Austin—I was just like, “Oh, okay, I can give this a shot.”

The acting in this film is so naturalistic, it's so easy, it never feels like dialog. Since you are playing the dual roles, how do you keep that naturalism as a director and then feed into it as an actor?

That was the seed for this entire film. I primarily consider myself an actress. That's been my first love, my first passion, I love acting. It's always been a massive dream of mine to be a working actor. So, that's always been at the forefront. I may not be the best screenwriter, I may not be the best director, but I always knew I wanted the acting to be at the forefront. I just wanted to create more opportunities for myself, to be completely honest. A lot of the actor's journey is just waiting on someone else to give you a shot and say yes to you. So, it was just kind of out of desperation and to not feel so out of control with my life and with my success. Let me just do the thing that everyone tells you to do, which is just to make your own stuff. So, I appreciate you saying that about the acting [in the film], because the acting was always my priority. At the very least, I just want there to be great performances. 

You definitely got great performances. Are the other actors people that you came up with? Are they personal friends?

They're personal friends, it's all a very personal story. The actors that portrayed the characters, or the actors I was basing the characters off of, are a very tight friend group. Those are things that we go through everyday. Once I had the initial seed of it being about an actor, the grueling audition process, and just the stuff we have to go through before we actually book something. Also that thing that everyone tells you, to write what you know best, or what is closest to you. I think for a debut that just felt right, why wouldn't I write something that is so personal to me?

You all just have such a palpable chemistry, it works well together. It's almost got this sort of nostalgia for a tough time, looking back on a struggle fondly. How big of an emphasis was that for you? 

I'm so glad you caught that, because again, I pulled so much directly from just real life conversations, real life feelings that all of the actors in the film and I have gone through. That overhead shot of my character and Sarah Bartholomew's character, Sadie, is a real moment that happened. Sarah was living in LA at the time, she was visiting me in Austin, working on a film that was super depressing. She was going through a breakup, and was turning 30 in a few days, and was like, “What is my life? I am broke, I don't know what I'm doing, this sucks.” We came home and we had both been on set that day, I was also working on a really depressing film. I came home covered in blood, because that's what the character was going through. 

All of it was just nostalgic, because those are very real feelings that we still experience. There's moments where it’s like, “What the heck am I doing with my life? Is this career path worth it? Why do we put ourselves through this?” But there’s just these little ebbs and flows, and ultimately, as long as we love what we do, I think it's worth doing.

It sounds almost hack to say, especially since you're an Austin filmmaker, but it was very Linklater. Looking back on a time that maybe was really tough and you were struggling, but then you find the warmness in it, that's really impressive. 

There's a great visual representation of that juxtaposition towards the climax. You have this rising action, and it's reaching its peak, and then it's immediately undercut by a moment of humor. Does that balance come from your script or the edit? 

It’s a little bit of both the script and the edit. I knew I wanted to sprinkle in that comedic relief, and I did sprinkle that in in the script, but also having the humor land also comes with the edit. I was really thrilled with my editor, Kody Gibson. He's primarily a comedic editor, and that's part of the reason why I wanted to have him on. I know it's a very dramatic piece, and it has dramatic moments, but I know for the comedy to work, I needed someone who knows how to edit for comedy. So I was just thrilled with him. 

I want to talk about the script a little bit, because I watched the film a couple times, and when you rewatch it, there is dialogue that cuts like a knife. Is that something you thought about while writing the script, or did the conversations kind of just flow naturally come from your life? 

I think it helps being an actor, because so much of what makes me want to be a part of a project is determining how naturally the conversation flows. There's been so many times where I get a script and the idea or the concept at large seems cool, but then you get to the dialogue and it's not really flowing. As an actor memorizing lines, it's so much easier when the conversation feels natural and makes sense. I was tapping into a little bit of that “actor brain.” I think what was really helpful also is being so actor forward. There'd be many times where I’d have Sarah (Bartholomew) and Stevie (Marceaux), with me, and we would just read it together, little table reads. We'd be able to feel how it feels, if it didn't feel right, we would alter it. I think that was so advantageous. If I wasn't an actor also working with other actors that are my close friends, maybe it would be a little bit harder to access that trial and error. 

I wanted to mention the sound design, which is excellent. Can you take us through some of those choices? Like that heavy breathing that's emphasized right before the climax? I loved that, it felt so propulsive.

That's kind of a combination of things. I had score influences, I was a really big fan of the film Black Bear, the themes kind of felt similar. That very anxiety inducing soundtrack really spoke to me. Sarah Bartholomew is a voice coach of a singer, so she uses her voice a lot. I knew we could get creative with our voices and make things weird. She's so good at embracing every part of her. She's not scared of being ugly, she's not scared of being freaky and weird. So it's just a testament to how in her body she is, and just how she likes to use her body. 

It feels like the score is constantly pushing you through the narrative of the film. Where does the inspiration to do just kind of a completely female centric story come from? How do you discover your voice within that storytelling? 

It’s funny, I've gotten a version of this question a bit now, or a comment about how woman-coded it is, how feminine it is. It is not something I was trying to do intentionally. I guess it just speaks to being a woman, but I wasn't trying to make a statement with any of that. I wasn't like, “Oh, men in Hollywood suck, and they're gross.” Sometimes a thing like that happens, but it was never something I really thought about hardcore. There's a moment where Stevie's character Ash gets a breakdown request, and it says, “Seeking bombshell babe with a nice bum and rack to match,” and that was a real breakdown I saw one time on Actors Access. It was just so gross to read that like, what era are we in? 

In terms of camera work, I kept coming back to Agnes Varda and French New Wave. It's very photographic. Camera movement is sparse, but it's really earned. What were you trying to do with the framing of the film?

I feel like I can't take a whole lot of credit, because as a first time director, I really leaned on my team. I worked with Tiger Hill before as my DP, and I just love him to bits and trust him. I know the things that I like and what I think look good, and I am just going to show it to him and trust him to come through. Initially, I wanted to shoot this on film, but because of budget reasons we couldn’t. But I like the film log, I like how this looks. These tones, these colors, and then I just kind of let him do whatever.

How long after you finished the initial shooting did you go back and reshoot the ending?

Almost a whole year later, not entirely a year we reshot that whole thing.

You can feel it. It feels heavy, like time has passed. And there is such palpable guilt, especially from your character. How are you able to not only convey that as an actor, but tell that story on screen?

I guess maybe some of that's just my people-pleasing tendencies. Just being very used to feeling guilty. I study the Meisner technique in Austin, and the whole premise of Meisner is to get really good at reading behavior. With reading behavior, you are able to get a better sense of those unspoken things. We're not always going to say it, but our behavior somehow is going to tell you that, and if you get really good at paying attention and get really good at being honest with yourself. Instead of trying to create a narrative, you can start to uncover what's hiding underneath.

My favorite part of the climax is what we talked about, that unspoken moment in the climax. It's so rewarding that you don't go back to the conversation. You leave all of that stuff unsaid, you leave the big fight unsaid. It’s like in real life, where do you go from that? 

Exactly, it's all different kinds of realities. You've spoken with your actions and your energy, so what else is there to hash out?

So many movies are guilty of that, especially from first-time directors. They want to see everything through to the end, but I think that's the heart of your film. It’s so slice of life and so specific and universal, and you can almost be more relatable by talking about something specific. 

I watched it with my partner, and my partner is someone that craves that resolution in a story, she wanted to see more. Are there any plans for this narrative in the future? 

I guess it's a good sign that you want to see more, or that your partner wants to see more. I think that's better than feeling like it went on a little too long. I definitely could see it being a feature-length thing. I just kind of already moved on in my brain. I am writing my first feature. It's not along these same lines, but I think this would be a really lovely feature. I have no film school experience, which, obviously you don't need. But, even with writing this, trying to write this feature, I'm like, “Oh, yeah, duh, structure is important.” Anyway, it would be a great challenge to write this as a feature.

What’s coming up next for you?

I shot a film called Easy Math that will hopefully be ready for festivals and all that jazz. But, other than that, just the untitled Tom Segura thing, which I cannot talk much about. I'm just so stoked for it.

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