Originally published on Tallahassee Democrat
Thousand-page treatises have been written on the coming collision between humans and the devices we’ve created. Devices that listen in on us, watch us and all we do; electronics that seemingly make more and more “decisions” for us; entities that stand waiting for us to stumble or fail.
But you don’t need to read a scholarly article to grasp the direction of modern life when in 13 minutes and 40 seconds you can instead be taken on a delightful journey of our near future and the comic tribulations burdening both humans and their artificial peers in a film made by two talented Tallahassee friends.
André Mancebo Heizer and Sergio Diaz-Silvero have written, co-directed, and co-star in the new short film, “Being Human.” The movie will have its premiere at the Gasparilla International Film Festival in Tampa on Saturday, March 29.
Both Heizer, who came to the states at age 4 from Brazil, and Silvero, with his Spanish heritage, have been steeped in the love of film and cinematography for most of their lives. Silvero is currently an MFA student at FSU’s Film School. Heizer has made five other short films which have collectively had screenings at the Art House Festival in Chicago, Sun Pass Festival in Miami, and Miami Short Film Festival, and now, a private screening at Tallahassee’s Capital City Video Lounge.
Heizer, 29, can trace his love of film creation back to his teens when he began making YouTube videos for friends, which in turn, led to his working on commercial projects. Along the way, he married and began studying toward an English degree he hoped would underpin the more narrative film projects he aspired to.
And it did, until the videography business took over his time. Still, he says, fictional plots and scenarios were constantly playing in his mind. It wasn’t long before, with savings plowed into equipment, lighting, sound, and editing devices, Heizer began to make his own short films.
But as with many other things, the pandemic brought plans to a halt. Financing on his own shoestring, Heizer had had to abandon a project that had seemed certain. And it was at this point that he ran into a fellow film aspirant in Diaz-Silvero.
Tossing around frustrations and story lines over beers, the two laughed and schemed and came up with plans to start afresh with a movie about the dilemma that both humans and their devices (which may very well want to be human) find themselves in.
Heizer says that this time, the pair got around the omnipresent issue of financing by keeping to a total budget of $3,000. They resiliently improvised by making props on a friend’s 3D-printer, costumed the three-person cast through Goodwill, filmed outside at Cascades Park, and used the equipment Heizer had previously purchased for lights, booms and mikes. They called on friends to act as technicians and grips.
And as to “high-priced” actors, Heizer (who plays Alex) and Silvero (who plays Wilde) came extraordinarily cheap. Heizer’s partner, Karen Alexis Orellana, learned her lines and came along for the fun.
Of course, after the “high” of completing a work of creation, comes the marketing — which isn’t cheap either. Heizer says he has applied to 62 Short Film festivals… “so far.” “It’s important to be seen in as many venues as possible…making contacts with each showing you do.”
In between, Heizer works at Midtown Reader. “I have a couple of longer feature films in mind, several shorts, and a book I’d like to write," he said. "I’m fascinated with the space and tensions between animate and inanimate things.” Then adds, “But I always want to stay an “independent” film maker, able to take my work in the direction it needs to go.”
Here’s hoping Heizer and Diaz-Silvero are the vanguard of other independent and passionate film makers willing to make their artistic stand in Tallahassee.
See more about "Being Human" at filmfreeway.com/beinghuman2025.