



El Perfumista


SYNOPSIS
Pedro Marquez is a prestigious perfumer who works at home with his daughter. However, his career is under threat as his sense of smell starts to deteriorate. Things only get worse as he decides to keep it a secret...
TRAILER
SCREENINGS
Hi! Shorts 厦门çŸç‰‡å‘¨
Xiamen, China
Dec 14th - Dec22nd, 2020
​
Pasadena International Film Festival
Oct 19th-Nov1st, 2020
Pasadena, CA, USA
SOHO International Film Festival
Oct 15th -22nd, 2020
New York, NY, USA
21st Newport Beach Film Festival
Oct 1st -11th, 2020
Newport Beach, CA, USA
Orlando International Film Festival
Orlando, FL, USA
Sep 15th -25th, 2020
Enzian Theater
Houston Latino Film Festival
Houston, TX, USA
March 19th - 21st, 2020
Canceled due to COVID-19
26th Sedona International Film Festival
Sedona, AZ, USA
Sun, Feb 23rd - 1pm, 2020
Location: Sedona - Harkins 1
Tue, Feb 25th - 7pm @ Harkins1
Location: Sedona - Harkins 1
42nd Mill Valley Film Festival
San Rafael, CA, USA
Thu, Oct 10, 2019
Smith Rafael Film Center
Fri, Oct 11, 2019
Lark Theater
DIRECTOR'S NOTE
​
​
Retirement oftentimes marks the beginning of senior life. It means suddenly becoming unproductive and can easily cause one to lose his/her purpose in life. It is only harder for a career driven man.
I witnessed how my father’s involuntary retirement took away his confidence as well as marginalized him from the family. I wanted to make a film where the audience experiences the insecurity a man goes through as retirement becomes inevitable. The moment one surrounds himself with fear, even the least ambitious apprentice can turn into a big threat.
El Perfumista is shot in California, but the visuals are actually inspired by my childhood memories of Jaca, Spain. That's where I used to spend my summer vacations with my Tia Carmen, who had a big house in the mountains of Los Pirineos, Nothern Spain. I was lucky for being able to replicate the splendid cedar forests and the Spanish house in the film. I set out for a visually nostalgic and poetic tone and used the cello as the only instrument in the scoring to portray the gradual progression of mental state our protagonist goes through.
​
Perfume making is filled with textures, patterns, and colors, yet, it is mysterious for its connection to the sense of smell. It is an invisible art. What happens if one loses his sense of smell? Can he still be a perfumer if he can’t smell anymore? How hard is it to accept such a big loss? How painful, or joyful, is it for a father to see his child reaching his level of success and not being needed anymore? I want this film to answer these questions.
​
- Paloma Lingwei Chen -
Jaca, Spain, 1997
Genre: Drama
Language: Spanish, English
Country: USA, China
​Shooting Location: California
Duration: 24'18''