Up and coming director Luis Abe Jimenez poses on a Birmingham rooftop. Photo by Jaysen Michael
On Oct. 20, former UM student and local independent film director Luis Abe Jimenez made his debut with his feature horror film entitled “Soon Enough.” The film consisted of a cast of various UM students.
Prior to this debut, Jimenez studied the art of filmmaking for most of his life. He was inspired during childhood to pursue a career in film.
“When I was about nine, it was on a Saturday morning when I was watching ‘The Lord of The Rings: Return of the King.’ And there was a scene with Aragorn that kind of just triggered it for me,” Jimenez said. “I definitely knew at that moment that I wanted to make movies, that there was something magical about them.”
Although Jimenez found himself inspired at a young age, he did not truly put his love for filmmaking into practice until his late teenage years. Jimenez studied acting because of its relation to the audience.
“I really liked the idea of entertaining somebody. The idea that somebody could go, and sit down and, at least for a small amount of time, forget about their worries, whether it be at work, or at home,” Jimenez said. “There should always be someone there to provide it, whether it be in film, or on stage, or through music. And I definitely wanted to be a part of that.”
To further illustrate his point, Jimenez recalled a previous job he held as a dancing cell phone for a business back when he was 16-years-old.
“We were right next to a stoplight, so there was one day when traffic stopped, and this girl just looked at me through her window and she was laughing. That was a reiteration of why I was doing what I was doing,” Jimenez said. “At least for that minute, she was having a laugh and she was forgetting about her worries.”
While passionate for the art of filmmaking, Jimenez also acknowledges the challenges associated with undertaking projects.
“There’s definitely going to be a lot of hard times, not just financially with funding your project, but with not having enough inspiration, per se. Or not having enough people to make it a reality, not having enough funds, not having enough time to do everything,” he stated. “But at the end of the day, if that’s enough to discourage you, then you really weren’t meant to do it.”
For Jimenez, the love for the art itself is what’s important, not the moneymaking potential.
According to Jimenez, dreams only remain abstract, but the movement toward that dream makes it into an attainable goal.
“A dream is only a dream if you don’t try to walk toward it. When you start walking toward it, it becomes a goal,” he reflected. “And every goal is always reachable as long as you know the path to it.”
