In Conversation: Federico Borgia on Prince
Few premises this festival season grabbed me quite as quickly as the one at the heart of Prince, Federico Borgia's solo-debut feature: a wealthy woman leaves her entire estate to her Afghan Hound, and her human heirs can only inherit once the dog is dead. What follows is a sly, melancholy dark comedy about greed, loneliness and the strange things people will do for money, anchored by a wonderful turn from Roberto Suarez and, of course, by the magnificent hound at its centre. The Uruguay-Argentina co-production had its UK premiere at the BFI London Film Festival, and I was delighted to put some questions to Borgia about building a film around a dog, finding the balance between comedy and tragedy, and seven years of work finally reaching an audience.
You can read my review of Prince here.
Prince begins with a wonderfully interesting idea: a woman leaving her entire estate to her Afghan Hound, with her human heirs only able to inherit once the dog dies. Where did that premise come from, and what was it about it that made you want to build your solo-debut feature around it?
That premise came up when I had already shaped the basic aspects of the main character and his relationship with Isabel, the woman leaving her estate to the dog. I never start a writing process with a clear premise or theme; I usually start writing separate pieces that attract me intuitively, not in a rational way, but for their cinematic potential and a tone between comedy and drama that catches my attention. Once I am surrounded by a cinematic universe that feels exciting, I look for something else: a premise that leads me into a story to navigate that world. So once I had shaped Jaime, Isabel, and the dog-show world around them, this premise made sense and I started working on it.
The film is billed as a dark comedy. How did you decide on that tone?
It's not really a conscious decision, but something I discover during the process, understanding what I'm actually doing, which is probably why it takes me so long to finish a script that convinces me. The tone you describe isn't pre-planned; it just emerges from my way of looking at the world, and I never fight that. As I let myself go with the writing, I usually end up in this register, though it only finds its true focal point towards the end when I really understand the story. In this case, I felt like I was writing a comedy at first, but at some point I realized it was actually a tragedy. That's when I started finding the balance of tone the film needed, which we ultimately defined through editing and music.
Jaime sits at the centre of it all, caught between his loyalty to Isabel's wishes, his own estranged son, and a family circling the dog. What did you want audiences to feel about him, and how did you work with Roberto Suarez to shape that?
Working with Roberto was such a great experience. I've wanted to collaborate with him for a long time, as I admire him not only as an actor but as a theater creator, his plays are always transformative experiences. I invited Roberto three years before we actually shot the film. Because he accepted right away, we were able to shape Jaime together during the writing process; he was always generous enough to read drafts and share great ideas. We built Jaime as an antihero you can sympathize with, as you're able to find tenderness in his pettiness and ultimately see his pain. We also wanted to build a sense of mystery around him, you don't really know what he's up to or what he's thinking, which makes you want to follow him and get to know him little by little. Roberto has that natural mystery and magnetism himself, so he effortlessly brought that to Jaime. It was such a joy working with him.
Prince himself is both the inheritance and, in a sense, the main character. What were the challenges of building a film around a dog, and how did you approach directing and filming the Afghan Hound, especially when he refused to eat?
I was initially afraid that having a dog at the center of the film could be a deathtrap for the shoot. But working with Pipi was so easy, he was never a problem! Of course, that had a lot to do with the great work done by trainer Ernesto Gillman, as well as the wonderful cooperation of Roberto and Pipi's owner, Sergio Fernandez, who was also in charge of making him look stunning. As for how we filmed him, we needed calm on set and patience to catch the right moments, much like shooting an observational documentary.
Beneath the farce, the film is really about inheritance, family resentment and what people will do for money and property. Were you consciously making a film about class and greed, or did those themes emerge from the story?
Those themes emerged organically from the story, and the story emerged from the characters. But when I started working on the relationship between Jaime and Isabel, class was inevitably there from the beginning. Above all, though, I think the film is deeply about loneliness.
The estate itself feels like a character. How did you choose the house and design that look, and what did you want it to say about Isabel and the life she left behind?
It wasn't easy to find the right house. When we visited the location with our location manager and production designer, we all felt it had something special. It was a house with a strong personality, and the woman who owned the property had passed away just a few months prior. Although the production design team did an amazing job, the house already had so many elements we could naturally use. We wanted to build a kind of royal life in miniature whose shine had faded a long time ago. Only the dog retains a true splendour, the rest is just a shadow of what it used to be.
You've described this as your solo feature debut. What did you learn stepping up to direct a feature on your own, and what surprised you most about the process?
It was wonderful co-directing our previous two films with Guillermo Madeiro, he is one of my greatest friends, and we went through those entire processes together from start to finish. With Prince, I started writing alone from the beginning, and at a certain point, I knew I had to assume the responsibility of directing the film on my own. However, filmmaking is ultimately a team effort. I relied heavily on key team members, particularly Roberto Suarez, Gonzalo Delgado, Nicole Davrieux, Ramiro Gonzalez, and Rodrigo Gils. I also had the collaboration of Lucia Garibaldi at an early stage of the script, as well as crucial mentorship from Ines Bortagaray. There are so many people on the team who were vital in making the film what it is, and I also had the joy of working with Guillermo Madeiro as our editor, so in a way, we still finished the film together.
The film is a Uruguay-Argentina co-production. How does it sit within Uruguayan cinema right now, and is there something about this story that feels particular to where you're from?
Well, there must be something about where I'm from in the story, but I don't actively think about that when developing a film. What I can say is that Uruguayan cinema has grown tremendously over the last 25 years, we now have a rich diversity of films and very talented people working in the industry. I also work as a film teacher, so I'm always eager to see what the next generation comes up with.
The ending is quite abrupt. Was that a deliberate choice to leave some things unresolved, and what do you hope viewers take away from where it lands?
Yes, the abrupt ending was a deliberate choice, but I think there's enough information throughout the film for viewers to put the pieces together themselves. I hope audiences want to talk about the film after watching it, and maybe even want to see it again. Most of all, I hope it stays with them.
Finally, with Prince now launching at the London Film Festival, what's next for you, and is there anything you learned here that you'll carry into your next project?
You always learn so much when making a film, it really takes up a piece of your life. I've spent seven years working on this project, and now I'm finally letting it go. I'll probably start working on something new soon, but to be honest, I don't have a concrete plan just yet. Right now, I just want to enjoy this moment, and then we'll see!
My thanks to Federico Borgia for his time, and to Natalia at Cinema Tropical. Prince screens at the BFI London Film Festival.
