Carolina Hernández, a perspective of her own

Carolina Hernández had completed her law degree and worked as a lawyer for a year and a half when she landed a job others might have celebrated: a position in a bank’s legal department. The opportunity offered a path forward, but it confirmed that she did not enjoy that career. Working first at a trust company and then at the bank led her to a decision that would change her life: moving to Buenos Aires to study filmmaking.

As a child in the town where she grew up, she saw films as a window onto other places and lives. She also enjoyed writing, although she did not imagine those interests as a profession. Filmmaking did not seem like an accessible or viable career in her surroundings. It took time for her to imagine that it could become her work.

In Buenos Aires, she found something decisive: classes and teachers who showed her that audiovisual production could be a profession. She remembers that period as one of the happiest of her life: writing and creating were finally at the heart of her studies. Later, she would discover how difficult it was to make a living from film, but she had already found the path she wanted to pursue.

Learning the craft and trusting her voice

She submitted a short film she had made at university to a film development program in Buenos Aires and was selected. That recognition confirmed that her perspective could interest others. It did not guarantee a career, but it showed that trying was worthwhile. That conviction explains why she now encourages other filmmakers to apply to screenwriting labs.

Working as an assistant director taught her another side of the craft. She helped organize shoots and support the person responsible for the creative direction while observing more experienced professionals. She discovered that they, too, had doubts, asked for time to think and consulted their teams. She learned that leading does not mean knowing everything: it is possible to listen to different opinions and still take responsibility for a decision.

“You don’t always have to know everything.”

As she built her career, she also needed to support herself financially. She combined assistant directing projects with advertising work and feature films; she has also taught screenwriting and worked at events and concerts. Those jobs have allowed her to continue while her personal projects move forward at a different pace. In this way, she learned how to sustain a vocation without neglecting everyday life.

Looking again at what is close to home

Living in Spain has not erased her connection to Ecuador. She grew up in the country, her family is still here and she returns often. Although stories set in Spain also interest her, she continues to think about projects that take place in Ecuador. She wants Ecuadorian audiences to recognize themselves on screen and for those stories to reach viewers beyond the country.

That desire gives rise to a specific aspiration: for a girl from an Ecuadorian town to feel moved by characters and situations like her own, rather than only by stories filmed far away.

When she was starting out, she was drawn to Russian and European cinema and thought she might make something similar. Later, she understood that the places where she grew up, her memories and her surroundings offered different material. She now sees more clearly the difference between inspiration and imitation, and between the desire to create and the actual timelines of production. That awareness has not erased her doubts, but it has given her tools to decide what kind of cinema she wants to make.

One film in a much longer journey

Her first feature film, El niño probeta, brought together years of waiting. For nearly a decade, Hernández made short films to keep directing and to practice techniques she would need when the project moved forward. There were times when she doubted the film would ever be made. Securing financing required applying to various public funding calls; the project received support in Ecuador and Peru. Even with that backing, patience became part of the process.

During filming, she faced another challenge. The crew was large, with actors of different ages, children and animals. Some family scenes brought together many performers and were shot until dawn because of lighting conditions. Fatigue and cold made it harder to repeat takes and keep the team motivated. She had to make decisions even when uncertain. She also experienced what she most enjoys about working with actors: watching a scene change when they make a character their own and bring something unexpected to it.

The films she still wants to make

She does not want to choose between auteur cinema and popular film. She wants to tell stories with a personal perspective that also connect with people who rarely attend festivals or think of themselves as film enthusiasts. She thinks of her parents, sisters and friends: people she wants to share her films with. For her, the value of a story also lies in its ability to stay with someone after they have seen it, like the childhood films she still remembers.

“I’ve always wanted to make auteur films, but films that can connect with audiences.”

She also wants to try another genre: a full-length comedy. She admits that making people cry seems easier to her than making them laugh, but the challenge appeals to her. Her journey has brought neither certainties nor one production after another. It has given her a way of working: paying close attention to what is familiar, accepting doubts, making decisions and returning to the page. That is the perspective Carolina Hernández wants to keep refining.