Netflix’s ‘The Man Who Loved UFOs’ Director on Exploring Fake News and Returning to the 1980s
Netflix’s The Man Who Loved UFOs (El Hombre Que Amaba Los Platos Voladores) tells the story of Argentinian TV journalist José de Zer and his cameraman Chango. It is 1986, and they travel to La Candelaria in Córdoba upon receiving “an unusual proposal from two shady characters,” explains a plot synopsis on the website of the San Sebastian Film Festival where the film celebrated its world premiere on Tuesday. “Arriving in the village, there’s nothing much to see, only a scorched field surrounded by hills. What happened next was the work of a genius in the art of exaggeration with a hidden talent: the ability to create the best-known audiovisual recording on the existence of alien presence in the history of Argentinian television.”
Or, as Netflix says in its summary: “What follows is the invention of the most famous alien sightings in the history of Argentine television.”
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Yes, the movie is inspired by a real-life person and a true story not well known outside of Argentina — yet.
Director Diego Lerman (Refugee, A Sort of Family), who co-wrote the screenplay with Adrián Biniez, hopes to change that. His cast, bringing the story to life, includes Leonardo Sbaraglia (Pain and Glory, Bird Box Barcelona) portraying de Zer, who died in 1997, Sergio Prina, Osmar Nu?ez, Renata Lerman, Maria Merlino, Daniel Araoz, Mónica Ayos, Norman Briski and Agustín Rittano.
The film will premiere globally on Netflix on Oct. 18.
Lerman talked to THR about what drew him to the story, returning to the 1980s, fake news and whether he believes in UFOs.
You explored domestic violence in Refugee and adoption in A Sort of Family. Now you are bringing us the story of an entertainment reporter who claimed to have evidence of UFOs. What drew you to that story and which themes did you want to dissect?
Well, this is a film that I wanted to do for many years. I used to spend vacation time in Cordoba where the story takes place, so I remember the stories, and I always wanted to write something about it. I remembered the character of Jose, so I started researching and that made me think that there was an interesting film to do about him and the origin of fake news, for example.
At the same time, as a filmmaker, I wanted to make a film about making fiction. Jose, our character, can be a filmmaker at the same time. He’s in the middle of the mountains, fighting for more resources and trying to tell stories with the people of the place, and thinking like a film director at the same time.
It is also a film about beliefs, the mystery of what can be or not be, the sense of life or the mystery of death. So underlying, in a more serious way, is a film about that: belief, what you can call religion, or whatever you want, whatever you choose.
So there are several levels, different layers that I wanted to develop. It’s a kind of comedy, so I try to tell everything through the eyes of Jose, a character who starts to lose his mind and mix fiction with reality. The point of view is very important. But what I try to build all depends on which point of view you see things from.
Did you believe in UFOs as a kid or ever think aliens could visit us?
In Cordoba, there are strange lights all the time that people used to watch in the skies. And I remember, I was never thinking that this was a UFO. But why not? I don’t know. Last year, NASA said officially that they have documents about their existence. Jose was a bizarre character, but for me, he’s very interesting. He was someone trying to build fiction and story and had a hunger for telling stories that people started to believe.
How much did you feel you had to point out to viewers the possible connections to today versus just leaving the story in its historical context?
Well, you know, the media in the ‘80s was much more innocent in a way. There were, at least in Argentina, only four channels of television, and one news show per channel. Now, we have like information all the time. In the film, it is said that this is the television of the future when he goes to his boss. He’s a kind of visionary in a very innocent way, right? Because he’s looking to sell a story, not more than that. But what he saw is that the spectacle of the news could be a business at the same time.
At some points, while watching the movie, including at the end, I wasn’t sure where reality ended and fiction began anymore. I assume you did that on purpose?
The film does the same thing that Jose did. You don’t know if it’s real or not. It’s all this fiction machine to build a dream or whatever in your imagination. And I did the same. It was so much fun and so great to do the film. I enjoyed it so much, like a kid. The film shows that this is a machine that will make you dream for a moment.
Sounds a bit like things I hear people when they are watching the news these days…
When Jose discusses things with his boss he says that this is what the people want. The people are tired of hearing bad news, of talking about the economy and political problems. They want something to believe in.
Beyond the original TV reports from the protagonist was there much material on him and his life that you could rely on to craft your narrative?
You don’t know much about this character. He did his public things, but he guarded his private life. So I imagined a lot.
Since it’s all about TV and imagination, how early or late did you decide where to end this film and with what image?
This is film number seven for me. With the previous ones that I did as a writer and director, I always wanted to find the end, and it always appeared in the end, sometimes in the shooting process. With this particular film, I knew this was the end from the first moment. I didn’t know a lot of things, but I had this really, really clear image and how to arrive at that. It was completely clear from the start that this was the ending.
What was the most difficult thing about this movie?
The hardest thing for me was to work with VFX. I have never used that before or just in very small [doses]. So, in this particular project, it was really a challenge. I had to study it and had a lot of people to help me, and the VFX person in charge. It was something new for me but I always love stuff I don’t know, the challenges.
Now that you have done UFOs, what story do you want to tackle next?
I have a new idea that I don’t want to spoil, but it’s kind of related to this project. It has some relation to the period of time.
Anything else you would like to mention?
The person who played the role of Jose’s daughter is my daughter. So it’s like a kind of game with real life [and fiction again].
Also, I work with a team that I have been working with on several films, and we really enjoyed doing this film. It was like a party.
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