“The Last Drop” is a project that was born during the water crisis that affected Nuevo León, Mexico, in 2022. Concerned about the situation in their hometown, lifelong friends Arturo and Ismael decided to raise awareness about the importance of water conservation and environmental care through art.
Initially, the short film was supposed to last five minutes and be a weekend project. However, when Arturo began writing, the plot evolved into a dystopian society experiencing “Day Zero” due to water scarcity and the climate emergency, extending the runtime to 20 minutes. The project was ambitious, as filming had to take place in July, while the script was conceived in late April.
Motivated by the story, Arturo selected Andrea Solís “Klein” to play Maite, the main character, while Ismael assembled the production team, including Carolina Tovilla as director of photography, Ana Lucía Rovira as art director, Bruno Mellone as editor, and the band “Isla en el Desierto” to compose the original music. Additionally, Klein introduced Abraham Lechuga, who handled the camera, forming a great team with Caro.
During May, June, and the first week of July, the team worked on pre-production. They launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise funds, but it was unsuccessful, forcing Arturo to finance the project with his own resources. They also scouted locations, designed costumes, planned the shot list, and conducted rehearsals with the actors.
The filming took place over five days, split into two weekends.
- On the first weekend, July 9 and 10, they shot at “La Cieneguilla” and at Ismael’s house in Santiago, Nuevo León. Carolina used innovative techniques such as colored lights, projectors, and kaleidoscopic prisms to achieve unique visual effects.
- The second weekend, July 15, was one of the most intense. They filmed at La Boca Dam in guerrilla style, without official permits, using a 4×4 truck to shoot the bike scenes and maintaining a small crew to avoid attracting the attention of the authorities. They then moved to the Barro Waterfalls, where the team faced a major physical challenge by hiking a three-kilometer trail while carrying filming equipment. On July 17, they filmed at abandoned cabins in Montemorelos, Nuevo León. That day, the team had to completely paint the cabin with white paint donated by Comex. The conditions were extreme due to the heat and the presence of insects. On the last day of filming, July 18, they changed locations to another cabin to avoid the risks of insects and ticks.
Post-production and Premiere
After finishing the filming, Arturo emigrated to New York and coordinated the post-production from abroad. No one on the team anticipated the magnitude of the work. Bruno and Caro worked for four months to achieve a preliminary cut, but they realized that material for the hallucination scenes was missing, which led Caro to direct an additional scene.
In December 2022, Arturo rented the Auditorio Río 70 in Monterrey for the world premiere of La Última Gota on April 21, 2023. The first months of 2023 were intense, as while Bruno was finalizing the cut, Hernán Ramírez and Gabriel López from Isla en el Desierto were composing and mixing the original music for the project. Just weeks before the premiere, the sound still wasn’t finished, so José Andrés Mendoza and a foley assistant managed to mix the sound in record time.
Finally, the stereo mix was ready the day before the premiere. The team did a media tour in Monterrey to promote the event on radio, television, and at schools in the metropolitan area. The premiere was a success, with more than 300 people attending. In addition to the short film, other works by local artists related to the environment and water were also showcased.
International Screening
The first international screening of La Última Gota took place in Brooklyn, New York, in May 2023. The sound mix in Dolby 5.1 was done by Raúl Antonio Garza in mid-2023. This was followed by a strategic partnership with Oscar-winning producer Frida Torresblanco, CEO of Braven Films, for the international distribution of the project. The first public screening with the remastered version took place at the Natourale Festival in Wiesbaden, Germany, in 2024. Currently, there are possibilities for several screenings in 2025 in locations such as Zurich, Switzerland; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; and at the Terres Festival in Tortosa, Spain
-La Última Gota – https://www.instagram.com/laultimagotafilm/
-Arturo G. Lozano – https://www.instagram.com/artgonzlo/ / https://www.instagram.com/art_gonzlo/
-Ismael C. Amador – https://www.instagram.com/ismadeldesierto/ / https://www.instagram.com/islaeneldesierto/
-Caro Tovilla – https://www.instagram.com/carotovilla/
-Andrea Solís – https://www.instagram.com/kleinwho/
-Ana Lucía Rovira – https://www.instagram.com/kind_annie/
-Bruno Mellone – https://www.instagram.com/gcbongo/
-Jose Andrés Mendoza – https://www.instagram.com/topomendoza/ / https://www.instagram.com/amper.oficial/
-Hernán Ramírez – https://www.instagram.com/hernanrmz98/
-Gabriel López – https://www.instagram.com/emilio.l0/–
Raúl Garza – https://www.instagram.com/_r.garza/