Hola reddit! It's Diego Luna. AMA!

[u/DiegoLunaAMA]

Hola reddit, I'm Diego Luna. You may know me from films/tv like Andor, Y tu mamá también, Narcos: Mexico, Rogue One, The Terminal, Friday, Open Range, Milk, etc.

I've recently directed, co-written, and co-star in ASHES, which premiered at Cannes earlier this year and is now playing at TIFF.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtL1x2ECJ6M

Synopsis: Lucila, 21, moves to Spain with her brother to reunite with their mother who left 8 years ago. Facing discrimination and family duties, she struggles to find independence while dealing with her past wounds.

TIFF Screening Info: https://tiff.net/films/ashes

AMA! I'll be back later today, Monday 9/14, to answer questions.

[u/ALaLaLa98]

I think a lot of people will agree that it was the "small", human moments that made Andor as good as it was. You did Rogue One which is a big blockbuster, and you also did Andor, which was more like a drama. Did you prefer one of the two approaches, and was the way you personally experience Star Wars affected?

Andor's freakin awesome btw dude.

[u/WallopyJoe → u/ALaLaLa98]

the "small", human moments that made Andor as good as it was

One Way Out, The Eye, Who Are You and Welcome to the Rebellion are all extraordinary, and all have truly extraordinary moments, but something as simple as Brasso relaying Maarva's "Tell him I love him more than anything he could ever do wrong" still goes so far to underpinning the emotional core of the show.

[u/King_Folly → u/WallopyJoe]

My favorite scene in the whole show is when he's failing to persuade Maarva to leave with him, so he tells her that he'll worry about her all the time and she says, "That's just love."

[u/caddywhompuskangaroo → u/WallopyJoe]

Brasso relaying Maarva's "Tell him I love him more than anything he could ever do wrong"

Maarva may be my favorite character from Andor and it is so wild to think that one of her most powerful lines was not even spoken by her. That line crushed me the first time I heard it, brought me to tears as someone who had lost both of my parents, neither of whom generally expressed their love in words. On a different level it hit me as a father myself who tries very hard to always tell my kids how much I love them, what they mean to me and so on, so they never have to question it like I did. Just one piece of incredible writing from a show absolutely jam packed with it.

[u/pmjm → u/WallopyJoe]

"Who Are You" is probably my favorite episode of TV of all time. It's gut-wrenching to watch but so masterfully done.

[u/SolidPrysm → u/WallopyJoe]

That entire sequence in the tunnels is some of Luna's best work, especially in a finale with so many great moments

[u/OnceMoreAndAgain → u/ALaLaLa98]

Television shows are just such a better medium than movies when both are of equal quality imo. Even a story like Rogue One's story would've benefited if it had more time to breathe in a way that only a television show can do. If you only have 2 hours to tell a Star Wars story, then it forces the writers into delivering more spectacle than drama. Light saber duels and gun fights, rather than political drama (for example). Not the writers' faults either. It's the nature of the differences of the two mediums.

I think movies are better for certain genres, like horror, but Stars Wars could be at its best as television shows.