Kn2s Productions interviews Krisstian de Lara, director of Sub Rosa, to discuss his debut as a feature film writer in his second directorial work titled, Rift City.

Rift City is an upcoming feature film that tells the story of Oriana, a collegue student who travels to Juarez, Mexico to make a documentary about Chuy, a teenager who’s mother has gone missing. However, once she finds her whereabouts, Oriana struggles to come to terms with doing what’s best for her or Chuy.

De Lara is an up-and-coming director that has shot films in Texas, South Florida, Mexico and Spain. He made his feature film directorial debut with horror film, Investigation 13 and will be entering production of Rift City this summer in the border community of El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico.

In this interview, de Lara goes into detail about writing for the silver screen, his inspiration for the screenplay and how it feels to go into production for Rift City.

Below is the full interview with the director:

1. Thank you Krisstian for joining us today for this Kn2s Productions interview and congratulations on writing for the first time for the silver screen, was it everything you expected?
De Lara: Thank you for having me, I think it has been quite a journey. Writing Rift City was an emotional roller coaster. I tried to put myself in the shoes of the protagonist, the supporting, and the antagonist, while at the same time making every character as smart as possible. I stayed true to their wants and beliefs, which was mentally exhausting but ultimately, the characters end up dictating what to write. My favorite part is after you write the first draft, and you have your plot all stretched out, to go back and shape it to each character’s point of view. Rift City is very character driven, and these characters are placed in very unique situations which makes the whole experience— and the ending, very refreshing.

2. What was your main inspiration when writing this screenplay?
De Lara: I believe there’s a lack of stories being told from the Latino perspective in Hollywood. In this script, I wanted to tell a story from the perspective of a Mexican-American student traveling to Mexico for the first time and feeling almost like foreigner. I believe many Latinos living in the United States that are first or second generation don’t really identify completely as Mexican or American. At least that’s how I feel, your heart is broken in two parts and it never feels whole. That’s what drives this obsession to bring my main characters back to Mexico, make them learn more about themselves in their native land, and transform them through the entire process. I find that journey very beautiful and humbling. Therefore, I drew inspiration from myself to write this script and explore the idea of taking your career to the extreme. Earlier versions of the screenplay had the protagonist as a young man, but as the script progressed, the stakes needed to be elevated and changing the protagonist to a female was just natural. However, knowing that this change didn’t make monumental differences in the plot or dialogue was very satisfying and empowering as a writer in this day and age.

3. Lastly, since when did you start working on this project and how does it feel to go into production? 
De Lara: It has been a two year and half process to get Rift City into production. When I finished writing the screenplay I said to myself, “This is a piece of cake, we can film it with in a year” and oh boy, was I wrong. Just getting the cast took a year on it’s own, especially since casting locally was a challenge on it’s own. I remember calling the producer, Victor Mares, to push production back another 3 months, and then another 3 months. There was a time that I said, “Why has this become such a nightmare when this was suppose to be something easy?” My line producer said to me, “nothing in life is easy.” Nonetheless, going into production after such a long wait with many obstacles feels like a big accomplishment. We have a stellar cast, leading roles played by Larissa Reyes Arzate, Sebastian Tafoya, Karla Giselle, Ervin River, Hector Dez, among many others. We also have a very talented crew and I’m excited to finally direct it.

We are glad to hear that. Thank you Krisstian and we look forward of seeing more of Rift City once in production.

De Lara concludes the interview by thanking Kn2s Productions, and inviting the audience to follow him on Instagram to catch behind the scenes photos and news from the project here.

Below is an image teaser of the upcoming film: