When his grandfather passed away, director Andres Madrigal felt the urge to pick up his camera and capture every moment of his impending grief. This archival impulse ultimately led to Madrigal’s feature debut, Lost Men, which had its world premiere at the Costa Rica Film Festival.
This intimate document records Madrigal’s personal family history after the death of the patriarch. The elderly man who died in a fire in 2019 had been married for 57 years in conservative Costa Rica. After the director’s death, the director’s father finally revealed a long-kept secret. It turns out that the head of the Madrigal family was a secret homosexual. And as the filmmaker reflects on his own queerness, father and son reminisce about their lives in secret.
Speaking to Variety ahead of the film’s premiere, Madrigal said he was inspired to make the film to preserve the memories he had with his grandfather. “Many of his writings and memories have been lost forever,” he added. “It started out as an archival and emotional interest in a personal or almost immediate sphere. Gradually I realized that this story was becoming more than that and almost needed to be told outside the nuclear family.”
Given the director’s desire to expose long-kept family secrets, the director and his father spent a lot of time discussing the plans and boundaries for making the film. “This story touches on many family wounds that were reopened after my grandparents passed away,” he says. “So I decided to work in a rhythm of production that would allow my father and I to not only make the film, but process all the emotions that come up in telling this story.”
“Lost Men” Presented by: Blue Paradox Films
“I always refer to interviews as conversations, and we’ve established ground rules such as interrupting whenever either of us feels the need,” he points out. “We also worked on things gradually, moving from easier themes to more difficult ones. Thankfully, my father and I already had a very close relationship before making this film, and I think that shows on screen. We trusted each other deeply throughout the entire process, and I believe that trust was the key to making the film possible.”
While Lost Men focuses on Madrigal’s personal family history, the documentary also briefly delves into Costa Rica’s queer scene, including glimpses into the country’s nightlife and the director’s friendships. Madrigal wanted to explore themes of “queerness, masculinity, and memory” through “the lens of family first and foremost,” but felt it was important to portray the queer culture of his home country because it felt “representative” of who he was as a character.
“It was a very conscious decision to include footage of San Jose’s bizarre nightlife,” he says. “I also included elements from my personal queer sphere, such as friends and ex-partners. These aspects are very personal, but they also reflect broader aspects of queer life in Costa Rica,” he continues, noting that he believes in the adage “the personal as political.” “In the case of my grandfather, for example, understanding the limits and complexities of his life also speaks to the broader reality of Costa Rica at the time.”
Asked about the challenges in bringing the film to fruition, Madrigal mentioned the complexities of “understanding the delicate balance between telling a deeply personal family story with the care and sensitivity it requires, and also stepping back enough to gain perspective and appreciate it in the same way as other fiction and screenplay projects I was directing.”
“At the same time, having to direct the film and include myself as another character in the story was definitely daunting at first,” he added. “With the help of Luis Diego Pérez, the film’s editor, we were able to strike a balance between telling a very vulnerable story and remembering that ultimately we were telling it to a wider audience.”
The director recalls the joy of the process, the thrill of rediscovering his grandfather’s literary works, becoming closer with his family and forming close bonds with his staff. “There was a great deal of trust between us, and joy and spontaneity were always part of the process. That playfulness became an essential part of how this film was made. A big credit for that goes to the film’s producer, Sofia Mesa Herrera, who consistently maintained and fostered an atmosphere of safety and care throughout the process.”
“Losmen”. Provided by Blue Paradox Film
Blue Paradox Films producer Sofia Mesa Herrera commented on making Lost Men as a co-production between Costa Rica and Guatemala, noting how “lucky” she is to be part of a generation of Central American producers who are “surrounded by new industry opportunities and great mentors who understand both the challenges of filmmaking and the incredible artistic ambition within the isthmus.”
“Our industry has international leaders who are willing to connect with each other through film festivals and workshops, network talent from different generations, and make efforts to understand the Central American panorama to further strengthen our talent,” she added. “I have come to believe that Sino-American cinema is an alliance without borders. Making films in this region is inherently political, as is sharing resources to grow opportunities, talent, and audiences.”
“There are so many stories to tell in Central America, but so few resources to bring them to the big screen,” says Felipon Díaz of Guatemala’s 4:4:4 TV. “When I discovered Lost Men, I connected with Andres and Sofia, their beautiful energy and the energy of the project, and the intimate and personal stories that I felt needed to be told in the times we live in.”
“Lost Men” was produced by Madrigal and Mesa Herrera’s Blue Paradox Films in collaboration with Felipon Díaz’s Guatemalan 4:4:4 Television. The film was supported by Costa Rica’s El Fondo Fauno and the Netherlands’ Prince Claus Seed Award.
