If a stranger walked up to you and asked you how you define love, what would you say? That large, looming question is at the center of Alberto Mielgo’s stunning Best Animated Short nominee, The Windshield Wiper. Using numerous vignettes of strangers in various stages of flirtation, lust, and heartbreak, The Windshield Wiper examines how fluid the feelings of love can be, and it keenly reminds us how singular our experiences are. Mielgo and producer Leo Sanchez acknowledge that their perspective on the subject has shifted over the years, but love will always be a powerful motivation in their lives.
It has been a long journey for the animated short. It debuted at Cannes in 2021 at the Directors’ Fortnight, and now it’s finally nominated for an Academy Award. Both Mielgo and Sanchez were thankful for their film’s journey, but they were especially excited for a wider audience to see their film.
“Releasing at Cannes was great,” Mielgo began. “Opening this film at the festival was a major highlight, and, obviously, the nomination is major for the industry of animation. Having these five films that are not major or commercial is so exciting. The highlight for me, personally, was when we shared the film online for free. Up until that point, it was playing at small festivals, and they were the only audience that had seen it. Fifteen minutes after putting it online, we were receiving feedback. That is why you make a film.”
“I feel the exact way Alberto feels,” Sanchez added. “We worked on this film for so many years, and, at some point, you lose that perspective. You share it with people along the way, but putting it online was the most gratifying experience.”
The question Mielgo’s film asks if a big one. With a short film taking such a broad stroke, I wondered if that gave the director more freedom to explore so many various aspects of romance and love. He introduces us to characters, but they remain strangers. All we know is that they are on an emotional journey. Some find love, some miss it, and some lose it.
“The question has never been answered properly” Mielgo explains. “We have the word for it, but the definition resonates differently with everyone. You can look it up in the dictionary if you want. Love is based on relationships, and each relationship is a different world. That’s why we can’t define it. I wanted to start with this question because so much of the definition of love today is to create an awareness of where the world is in terms of love and relationships. I’m not saying that we are in some crisis, but we are evolving and love is evolving. Love is evolving as it can depending on how society goes.”
The vignette that that I was drawn to was of the homeless man entranced by a mannequin in a storefront window. He mumbles to himself, but he is clearly remembering a love lost or gone by. Is he pining for someone he lost? Did a loved one pass away? What makes The Windshield Wiper so entrancing is how it leaves us with just the right amount of grey. Mielgo and Sanchez revealed their favorite sections of the film.
“For me, the beach is similar for me,” Sanchez revealed. “I’ve been there. Even the last six years I’ve felt these things. The one with the homeless man makes me think about connection. It raises a lot of questions and the subject of how love is interpreted. Now I am more attached, because of personal circumstances, I keep thinking about the sequence with the old couple. That is so striking to me, because I am looking more at older people and how they view love. There are some moments that is easy to connect for me.”
The director took a few more minutes to answer since his film is so personal.
“All of them are personal and resonate with my life. I would say perhaps the couple smoking on the beach. I have been in that situation where you are thinking of ending the relationship. Both of you are focused on the horizon and facing an uncertain future. Many of the stories bring heavy memories, and that’s what I wanted. I wanted to be so vague and open that I didn’t want people to understand the stories as much as I wanted them to feel them. It creates sensations.”
At the end of the film, we come back to the same man who posed this question about love. In just eighteen minutes we see exuberance, despair, excitement, and loneliness. What makes The Windshield Wiper such a timeless film is how we can revisit it every year, and we would have a different perspective on its characters and images. Depending on where you are in your life, you will respond to it in a completely different way every time. Being hopeful about love can be a conflicting thing.
“I can be a total cynic and say love is meant to disappear,” Mielgo admitted at the end of our conversation. “I used to say that love was used to make strong families, but now it’s changed. We are very self-centered or we focus on our careers. Maybe we aren’t as focused on those relationships? Of course, love endures internationally in many shapes–not just in relationships. Because we are so self-centered, maybe love is evolving from being in relationships with others and it’s more about loving ourselves. Our evolution with ourselves. I don’t know if that’s negative. Love is not deciding. If love is up front, we would never have war or conflict. Love is catching up as much as it can.”
“In my experience, I still believe in love, “Sanchez admitted. “I am debating two things. Love is not taking the shape and form that has established for me at an early age. It’s changing. I’m getting older, and they aren’t going the way they were taught to me. I have found that as I age. I have my own path, and I don’t know if it’s because I am career-oriented or maybe it’s not how I saw it unfold with my parents. In contrast with how society is changing, I am experiencing new technologies. The first reel that Alberto showed me seven years ago…watching it now, I am connecting with things differently now. At the time, I was on Tinder and I was going through the pain the couple in the supermarket was going through. Things are changing and society is changing too. Putting them together makes it more complicated, but I am excited to see what happens next.”
The Windshield Wiper is available to stream on the film’s website.
