Mario Alejandro Arias
Directing
Biography
Mario Alejandro Arias is an Ecuadorian writer and director based in Madrid. After receiving a scholarship from the ECAM film school, he migrated to Spain in 2019. At the school, he specialized in non-fiction filmmaking, slowly crafting a style that blurs the lines between fiction and documentary. His second-year project, “It’s just a burning memory...” was selected for over a dozen international festivals. His third and final film school project, a feature-length film called “Tener Tiempo” was the first feature from his school to premiere at the Festival de Málaga. Shot with less than $3,000 on two handy-cams, the film enjoyed a very successful festival circuit in Spain. After graduating first in his class, he wrote and directed “Qué calor hará sin vos en verano,” a story of two foreigners who meet in Madrid, fall in love, but have little time to enjoy it. The short film premiered in June 2024. His next short film, “Ya están viniendo” is about four friends who escape the city and the troubles of early adulthood to camp in the mountains for a weekend and try psychedelic mushrooms. This short is set to premiere in autumn 2024. Arias navigates between fiction and non-fiction filmmaking, writing for friends, family members, and non-professional actors. His films explore themes such as the passage of time, migration, love, existentialism, and the struggle to find oneself in the modern world.
Known For
A double-edged letter in the midst of confinement. Javier starts sending videos to his son to catch him up on his new life. Through these videos, Nico will try to respond to his father.
Dos cipreses
Madrid. January 2020. The biggest snowfall in the history of the city has left it completely paralyzed. Trapped, and with too much time to think, a filmmaker decides to make a time capsule for his future self.
Time capsule
Emilio and Mia meet in springtime Madrid, both are strangers to the city. The more they get to know each other, the deeper they fall in love, making their inevitable separation all the more painful.
That time we started a (small) fire
Madrid, 2021. The parks are empty. There are regional elections. And final exams. Meanwhile, Pedro, Kiko and Jesús agree to star in a movie.
To Have Time
Decades after that first love, after that mistake that cost him everything... The anthropologist will receive a letter that will change his life.