'HOMBRES INTEGROS' at SBIFF 2025 Interview with the team

FINE YOUNG MAN (‘HOMBRES INTEGROS’)

Santa Barbara international film festival

Interview with director Alejandro Andrade Pease and lead actor Andrés Revo by Emmanuel Itier

‘Hombres Integros’ (Fine Young Man) is the journey of a young man, Alf, played by the talented Andres Revo and looking for himself. Growing to become the man he truly is in spite of the macho environment that he suffocates in. Directed by “maestro” Alejandro Andrade Pease the film is inspired by true events lived by Pease as a young man. More than a coming-of-age story, it’s also a thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Andrés Rovo won the acting prize at the Morelia film festival and it’s a testament to his talent. For sure a young actor to follow with a bright future. We can’t wait to see the next movie by Peace who is also a director to follow and whose destiny is written in golden letters. I was lucky to catch up with the two of them at the Santa Barbara film festival where the film got a warm welcome.

Q: Tell me how this film came together?

Alejandro: This film came from a very personal place since I went to a school like the one depicted in my movie. This is where I met my screenwriter partner with whom I wrote the film. We were in the same class. We saw these kinds of people living there. The scary thing is that after all these years these guys became governors or businessmen. They became really important people in society. And in their past, there are stories like the one told in our film. And at the end it doesn’t matter because there is some sort of pact in Mexican society and these kinds of things get hidden and people continue their lives as if nothing happened. We started writing this film in 2018 and we even won a prize for the script.

Q: What challenges did you face making that movie?

Alejandro: First challenge was to get the money and it’s never easy for independent cinema. In Mexico it’s even harder than in the U.S. I found a co-producer in Spain that came on board and with another company in France. That way we were able to add the Mexican film fund with money from other places.

Andrés: It’s my first feature so it was a blessing, but it was a challenge with lots of pressure to be this protagonist. We were shooting 12 hours per day and this was very exhausting. The level of emotions required to get into my role was intense. Sometimes it’s deep and dark. The emotional charge that this character has, is draining. Getting in and out of these emotions was challenging. Not easy after a shooting to get to my house and go to sleep.

Q: What are the themes explored in your film, what are the messages if any?

Andrés: The themes touched in the movie are machismo, sexism and classism. All of those themes are very present in Mexican society.  The movie reflects that. It’s also this privileged circle that surrounds the characters. They all have a mask, publicly. And there as so many people who are racist and classist. Those are the themes the movie touch.

Alejandro: We are talking about the patriarchal system and that affects us all. There is also the theme of homophobia. And we are talking also about gender violence. Having in mind that the main victims of this violence are women and people from the LGBT. At the end those are the main victims. But men as well are also victims of this abusing system. Because they are forced to play or to reach an unreachable level of masculinity. That only generates suffering in them. Because it’s impossible to be this Alpha great winner man. It takes lots of sacrifices to even get close to that. Your own sensibility or your own weakness which is part of all of us.

Q: What does the Santa Barbara film festival mean to you and what are your expectations?

Alejandro: We are so happy to be here, and it has been such a great experience. We had a big red-carpet premiere with lots of medias. It’s great to share this film with an audience. We opened the movie to the world. After Santa Barbara we go to Mexico in a few festivals and then we go to Spain where the movie will have its commercial release. We hope we can find a distributor in Mexico and the U.S soon.

Andrés: I just  want the audience to  discover our film and understand the various themes approached in  this  movie about Mexico society.