Video by Alex Patrick | Interview by Robin Pailler
Our dear friend Lola Mignot just dropped her brand new video, De Color a Flor, and it’s an absolute banger.
Shot across 10 days in Oaxaca, with a cheeky bit of Mexico City thrown in for good measure, De Color a Flor is an audiovisual delight that truly encapsulates Lola’s personality in all its glory. The beauty. The colours. The smiles. And of course, the surfing.
A truly collaborative effort, with Lola’s longtime friend, Alex Patrick on filming and editing duties and her boyfriend Nico Bohorquez adding some VHS spice to the art direction.
Naturally it felt only right to jump on a call with our favourite Franco-Canadian, Mexican sweetheart to discuss the project a little more in-depth.
(Phone rings)
Hello?
There she is.
Here I am!
How are you?
I’m good. Just got some coffees. Ready to go.
Where did you go for coffee?
There’s a spot just around the corner here in Los Feliz called ‘Go Get Em Tiger’.
Oh yeah. I know the spot.
It’s really good and they’re now doing the cold foam. It’s an iced coffee with cold foam on top.
Cold foam girl? Ok.
Yeah it’s something new. It’s a bit sweet too. It’s like a treat.
You do have a bit of sweet tooth don’t you?
Sometimes. How are you? Where are you right now?
I’m in the French Basque Country. Got a little rose here alongside some anchovies, some camembert and a cheeky pate d’Espelette.
Oh my God. Stop it. I need that.
You need to come back to France mate.
Oh we are! In September for Queen’s Classic.
I guess I’ll see you there. What are you up to right now?
Just preparing everything for the premiere. Feeling a little nervous.
Oh trust me, you’ve got nothing to be nervous about. It’s sick that you’re doing the premiere at Oblivion too.
Yeah I’m stoked. My friends Grady and his wife Mackenzie run it and one of Grady’s songs actually features in the edit.
That’s dope.
Yeah, I’m super stoked. We’re gonna have a taco stand. I have three Latino friends who only play vinyl, so they’re gonna be playing a bunch of latin music. And a couple more friends performing. And we’re also playing this Mexican game called La Lotería, which is kinda like bingo and the winner gets a Vans gift card.
Wow. You’ve got it all dialled in. I wish I could be there.
We’re just trying to make it fun and we also have a raffle where people can win one of my signature boards from Unhinged Surfboards, as well as a July wetsuit, with all proceeds being donated to CHIRLA (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights).
Which ties in nicely with my next question. Before we delve into the video, I think it’d be a bit of an injustice not to talk about what’s going on in the U.S. right now, particularly with all the ICE raids in LA at the moment. I know you’re technically a dual French/Canadian citizen and your parents are French and Spanish Argentinian respectively. But you obviously feel very tied to Mexico having grown up there, right?
Yeah, I mean my heart is Mexican for sure. I never lived in France and although I took my first steps in Argentina, most of my life has been spent in Mexico.
And how is it in LA right now? What’s your perspective on it all, being so closely tied to Mexico and seeing the current U.S. government’s approach to both legal and illegal immigrants.
It’s just sad to see things going backwards instead of forwards, instead of us all being one and supporting human rights. I mean LA and California overall has kinda been made by Mexicans and Latinos.
I mean, you’re staying in Los Feliz right now. Like many places in California, kinda sounds Spanish.
I know right! It’s crazy. I can’t even believe it’s happening to be honest. I’m still in shock. I mean I’m scared for everyone. Even myself. Even though I have a Canadian passport, I’m still just a tourist out here y’know?
I don’t blame you. I’ve even seen videos of ICE agents arresting American senators who are protesting and protecting immigrants rights. It’s utterly insane.
The one positive is that it’s nice to see people rising up. Especially in California. People from all races and ethnic backgrounds coming together and speaking out.
It shows the true power of community I think.
Totally. It’s like here in Los Feliz, you see Mexican flags everywhere. It’s nice to see. People coming together and bringing out the good vibes of Latin culture.
That’s all we can hope for. Power to the people.
Yes!
Moving on to your new video De Color A Flor. How did it all come about?
So I’ve been working with Alex (Patrick) since my first ever surf videos. And I guess I’m a grown up now, so I figured it was time to direct a video for myself and it made sense to get him onboard. We just sat down with a little Corona and started talking about what we wanted to do. I just wanted to do something bright and fun. No slow motion. No water shots. Kinda capture the culture of Mexico. The colours. My friends. And some good waves.
Having watched it again twice today. I’d argue it’s the best surfing we’ve ever seen from you on video, which is amazing to see. I mean everyone knows what a great surfer you are. But I feel like, every time you’ve tried to showcase your talent in a video, it’s never quite worked out for whatever reason.
I agree. I feel like I put too much pressure on myself when there’s people around me, and there’s cameras and a timeline. Whereas I feel like this trip was so easy. We just made it happen during ten days in Mexico and really focused on just having a good time. My boyfriend Nico was there filming VHS and being creative. Constantly talking about what we wanted to add to the film. It just felt very real, very me, very fun. And the waves were there for six days and I was the only one in the water, so I didn’t feel any pressure really. I also had one of my favourite boards by Dane (Peterson – Unhinged Surfboards) called the Peto Pig and that’s been helping me with my surfing more. I feel like finding a good board for that wave really helped because it’s not that easy. I mean the wave looks perfect but it’s kinda funky. And I feel like that board helps me stay in the pocket and move in a perfect way.
How did Regi (Diaz) and Maria (Castillo) get involved?
So they’re two of my best friends and they’re from Puerto Vallarta so we’ve known each other for a long time but we were never that close until seven years ago. We’d always hang out in the same spots but it wasn’t until we were a bit older that we realised that we’d be perfect friends. They’d come and stay in Sayulita a bunch and then they both moved to Mexico City because they’re both amazing artists and tattooers. So I’ve been staying with them quite often when I visit and yeah, now we’re like sisters. So it just felt right to have them in the video.
Yeah it’s a nice touch seeing you three handing out flowers to everyone.
Yeah it was really cute. We had a lot of fun doing that. Especially the guy on the escalator who missed it. Regi actually went back up to give him the flower because he couldn’t get down. They’re just two amazing people. Most of my tattoos are by them actually.
How did you approach the edit? Because what I love about it, is how frequently it switches. I think unfortunately people nowadays have such a short attention span, it’s kinda necessary to do in order to keep people’s attention.
Yeah it’s so true. So I knew I needed to make something fun and engaging that would catch people’s eye and make them want to keep watching. Nico would lay out post-it notes with all the sequences and sections and we would spend time moving them around, envisioning how it would look and discussing how we wanted the video to be aligned. And then we’d go back and fourth with Alex. We just finished our 20th draft edit yesterday actually. So overall it probably took a month, a month and a half to finish it. Especially as Alex is in Mexico City and we’re here. Luckily Nico’s really good with words and explaining stuff technically, so that really helped. And Alex is just great at listening and then delivering based on feedback. It really felt like a perfect trio in terms of working together.
And the music selection?
We were kinda all over the place with music in the beginning. But we all picked a song that kinda represents our taste individually and threw it all together. It’s also fun because the songs also reflect all the languages that I speak. There’s Mexican music. An American track and then the French one.
That’s rad. I’m just so stoked to see you finally put out your own video.
Yeah and the whole filming process just felt really easy. I’m super proud of myself and how the video’s turned out. Every time I’ve watched it, I haven’t had a negative thought about it. I just think it’s really beautiful and represents who I am and what I love.
What’s next? What’s the plan going forward.
I mean, this is the beginning of my YouTube channel haha. I’d love to do two more videos like this, this year if possible and then kinda have a trilogy of videos that I can cut together with some unseen clips to form one long piece. I’d love to shoot something in France and then maybe Latin America. Get Karina and a bunch of friends involved too.
Sounds epic. Before I let you go, who would you like thank?
I mean I’m super thankful for Vans because having them support me made it feel like it’s possible to do what I’m doing. To be able to travel and surf and produce a video. That makes my heart full. And then obviously my Mum, Nico, Karina, Alex. I guess every single person in my life who supports me and allows me to stay true to who I am. I’m just really grateful for the community that surrounds me.
