There is something undeniably noble
and beautiful about a woman who lives to fulfill her dreams and passion for traveling and writing.
The film, Life Passion
Death, reveals the experience of Angela who grows up in a small town in Spain where the townsfolk live their
full lives in close emotional and physical proximity to their families. Only a few adventuresome souls like Angela are motivated
to search for something beyond their comfortable small-town existence. Ultimately, Angela must choose between her passion
or her home-town life with her family. The director, Maria Angeles Escudero Artiaga, brings a refreshing cross-cultural perspective
to this story.
The protagonist, Angela, worried about
her imminent wedding to her childhood sweetheart, escapes family pressure by visiting friends in New
York. There she meets and falls in love with a successful Wall Street banker,
Joseph. Together with Joseph, Angela embarks on a new life in the big city.
Life Passion Death has been honored
by winning Best Cinematography
at the 10th International Bare Bones Film Festival. When Angela
is in Spain, the audience sees gorgeous vistas of the blue Mediterranean ocean, mountains landscapes, and relaxing Spanish
homes. Camera shots of delicious fresh food are mouthwatering. The audience can’t
help wanting to visit! The director then recreates the free spirit of Angela traveling across beautiful
panoramas of Rome, glaciers in Alaska, deserts in Australia, the Prado of
Madrid and of course the fabulous autumn in New York.
Director Maria Angeles Escudero Artiaga
clearly has big ambitions for her film and manages to make a great movie despite a shoestring budget. It
is difficult to believe that Life Passion Death is Ms. Escudero’s first ever film. As a director,
Ms. Escudero elicits solid performances from her actors including herself as the leading actress. The character of Angela
shows freshness and reality that enhances credibility of the film. In addition to directing and acting, Ms. Escudero wrote,
edited, and produced Life Passion Death. For these impressive accomplishments she was awarded with Best
Indie Auteur 2oo9 at 10th International Bare Bones Film Festival and was nominated for Best Actress and Best Drama.
The film takes a dramatic turn near
the end that will surprise and shock the audience. Without giving it away, the director finds a clever
clear resolution that offers some hope but does not avoid tragedy.
Ms. Escudero has taken a different path
along her career than most directors. She grew up in Spain from the small town, Callosa de Segura, with a population of only 12,000 people. This is the same
hometown for the character of Angela in the film. While Life Passion Death has an aspect of art imitating
life, the film is not autobiographical. Ms. Escudero studied molecular Biology in the University Autonoma
of Madrid and obtained a Cum Laden Doctorate degree in Biology by the Neuroscience
Institute of Spain. She moved to the United States in 1997 to work for Harvard
University on cancer research at the Danna Farber Institute. Three years later she moved to New York City where she discovered her passion for acting and film.
While in New York she trained as an actor by attending several acting schools
including: American Academy of Dramatic Arts, New York Film Academy, TVI Actors Studio, and Black Nexus Inc. In 2006 Ms. Escudero
enrolled in the Film Making Program at the Digital Film Academy, NY. Also in 2006 she launched her first
experience as an independent filmmaker by starting to write and produce the film, “Life Passion Death”. After
almost two years of hard, constant, and passionate labor she finished her first film.
Ms. Escudero claims that her background
of hard work in creative and challenging research projects gave her the right skills to accomplish a feature film.
She clearly displays a distinctive flim-making style: refreshing, interesting and breaking the common mould.
Ms. Escudero offers a vision that will enrich the future of film.
