about
A sketch of three Native Americans playing Nintendo 64 hung right outside of his childhood bedroom. His mother drew it. His father was in a band in the 60’s described as the “Colombian Beatles”. Writer/Director Paul Duran-Lemos has always been fascinated with the surreal.
Influenced and inspired by the dreamlike qualities of contemporary film and the reflective stillness of Taiwanese Cinema, Paul unmasks the honesty beneath his characters by blending a naturalistic visual style and sound design with waves of surrealism in the editing room. “There’s a gap between the sensory and abstract and that’s where you find truth.”
Paul frequently collaborates with Art At The Rendon in fostering creativity within the Los Angeles Arts District. He enjoys the documentary and short-form space and has worked with names such as Vans, MOCA, Jerry Cantrell, Surfbort, Gene Simmons, Ralph Ziman, among others.
What is “qualia”?
“Qualia” ([kwah-lee-uh] plural; singular: quale) is a philosophical term referring to subjective experiences.
These can be anything from the warmth of your cheeks before your first kiss to how the wind skims your hair on a specific summer Sunday. They can be as small as the cold strain on your eye from reading this in the middle of the night to the texture of your clothing brushing the hairs on your skin.
These qualia bridge the gap between the sensory and the abstract; they aren’t necessarily representative of the judgements or beliefs we impose on the experiences, but rather, on the experiencing itself.
We, as people, are not made from a void; we are collages of our own respective qualia. Each quale we encounter builds on to the broader perception of our lives.
