Five Inspirations is a series in which we ask directors to share five things that shaped and informed their film. Andreas Fontana's Azor is exclusively showing on MUBI in many countries starting December 3, 2021 in the series Debuts.
INSPIRATION #1
I need to do research to write. During this research I take a lot of pictures. It's my way of finding something. For Azor, I have dozens and dozens of photos that served as references and that I had stuck in a large notebook that I carried with me on the set. Unfortunately this notebook is now stored in a cellar. This photo was taken during a horse race at the San Isidro Hippodrome, Buenos Aires, in 2017.
INSPIRATION #2
This book was given to me by Mariano Llinás during one of our meetings to work on the Azor script. It is a biography of one of the darkest, most troubled and ambiguous leaders of the military junta that led Argentina into the "dirty war.” But it is also the only book by Claudio Uriarte, a book of mind-blowing precision and density. English translation not available.
INSPIRATION #3
During my research for Azor, I discovered the work of photographer Slim Aarons, who has photographed the jet set and the world's wealthy for decades. Slim Aarons had discovered that he got the best view of his subject from the edge of the swimming pools.
INSPIRATION #4
Melville – Herzog – New Hollywood – Lang – Bresson - et cetera.
INSPIRATION #5
I need to write in lively places. I don't like to write in silence, although sometimes I have no choice. The best place to write is in cafés or—even better—in the lobby bars of grand hotels. This is the Balthazar café and restaurant in Manhattan.