“The Heart and the Arm” | Carlos Lerma, Call Me Crazy

Sinking in a situationship, a broken heart is bad enough, but a broken arm might be the trick to be seen again. Question is, is it worth it?

Screening at the Music Box Theatre on Saturday, May 3, as part of “CFCA Shorts Program #1” within this year’s Chicago Critics Film Festival, Call Me Crazy is the latest animated short from director Carlos Lerma, who will be in attendance for a post-film Q&A.

Ahead of Call Me Crazy screening within the shorts program, Lerma graciously took the time to answer this year’s CCFF filmmaker questionnaire. Below, his individual responses.

How did you first become interested in filmmaking? What was your path toward directing your first film?

I didn’t really fall in love with filmmaking after a trip to the movies or after watching my dad’s old movie collection. I fell in love with filmmaking in a very weird way. As a kid, I didn’t have many friends, so I turned to the internet a lot. After watching people online upload all types of things like tutorials, storytimes, and gaming videos, I started doing the same at a very young age. 

I started making videos on the internet at age 12. I basically did a monologue where I told a personal story that was relevant to a kid or teenager, added some bits of personal advice, and threw in cutaways for comedic effect or to emphasize a point. I wrote, directed, starred in, edited, and distributed my own online show — but to me, it was just, “Oh yeah, I’m making videos.” I did it because I liked being a showman; I liked having an audience. And even better, it distracted me from the gray and boring reality of my actual life. In school, I was the artsy kid the other boys didn’t want to talk to. But to my few subscribers on the internet, I was a cool kid with cool interests and something to say. 

On a random night, I watched a short film, and after it almost brought me to tears, the lightbulb went off. That’s when I realized, “This is what I need to be doing.” The next day, I scrapped every other silly video idea I had and pivoted my life entirely toward narrative filmmaking. Since age 15, I’ve made 23 short films (14 live-action, 9 animated). 

My first-ever short film was made with my old DSLR, my shotgun mic, a couple of my friends, a bullet point script, and a dream. Doing that was like a slow burn to a gas tank. I had been doing filmmaking things with no real purpose from age 12 to 15, but now I finally knew what it had all been leading up to. 

Filmmaker Carlos Lerma. (Courtesy of the filmmaker.)

What inspired you to make the film you're bringing to the festival?

I was in a situationship in November, and soon after, the person I was talking to started to become distant and cold. During a night of catching up with friends and discussing the matter, I said, “Well, I’m sure if I broke my arm, I’d get their attention!” Boom — idea! I then proceeded to pretend I needed to use the bathroom in the middle of the gathering and wrote a two-minute dark comedy poem about how funny it would be to break your arm for somebody who broke your heart. I liked the parallels of physically and metaphorically breaking a part of your body — the heart and the arm. 

I do this often: feel very strongly about something, write about it, then put it in my idea box. The ideas that make it out of the idea box, though, are the ones that nag me day and night. I start seeing glimpses of what a short film could look like if I ran with it.

Eventually, I cave in. I put a hat on so my long hair doesn’t obstruct my view, close my blinds so no sunshine enters my room, turn my iPad on, and start drawing away. I storyboard almost every frame for my live-action short films, but with my animation work, I like having a small bullet-point list of things that need to happen for sure in the story — and then I just go with the flow and build as I go along.

Tell us about a film that you consider a guiding influence (whether it has informed your overarching vision as a filmmaker, directly informed the title you're bringing to the festival, or both). 

The Shape of Water is a film I’ve seen so many times I’ve lost count. My favorite moment in the entire movie is right at the beginning, when Giles says, “Mmm… the chocolate factory is burning. It smells wonderful,” or something like that. That is what I think to be the most beautiful and clever line in movie history! It taught me that tragedy can be turned from something sad into something delightful and even funny. But of course, that’s just a small trinket from the incredibly creative and beautiful story of love, drama, and tragedy. 

Tell us about a location that's held significance to the film you're bringing to the festival: a setting where filming took place, a geographic area that provided a source of inspiration, or another type of space that comes to mind for you in thinking about the film. What made this place so special? 

All my films are a direct reflection of my life and the point where I am in it. I am a Mexican immigrant and an international student, and I’ve been living in Chicago, IL for the past three years. The way I’ve fallen in love with this city is crazy. Since being here, I’ve tried to incorporate it into my work in any way I can. With Call Me Crazy, you see the Chicago cityscape in the very first shot of the animated film. I could’ve set it anywhere else, but Chicago is where I am. 

Chicago has been incredibly welcoming, loving, fun, sometimes heartbreaking, inspiring, and wild. And all of these are good things. All of these are things that have shaped me as a person and artist. So as long as I’m allowed to tell stories on screen while I’m alive, I’ll always try to show the people of the world the places I love — like Monterrey, Mexico (my hometown, and the love of my life) and Chicago, IL (my second home now). 

The theatrical experience brings us together to celebrate artistic experience and expand our horizons as human beings. Tell us about a memorable theatrical experience from your life. 

I had a job in high school. I used to be a graphic designer and video editor for a shoe business. It was a 9-to-5, and the office building was next to a mall. After work, I would go watch whatever movie was playing before my parents picked me up, usually around 7 or 8, since I didn’t have a car. I went to that old, low-attended movie theater by myself a lot — and very often — but I remember those times with so much fondness. I loved just relaxing after a long day at work, by myself, with some nice snacks and a nice movie.

“Call Me Crazy” screens Saturday, May 3, as part of “CFCA Shorts Program #1” within this year’s Chicago Critics Film Festival.