EP Grammy Winner Makes Film Directorial Debut

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, guitaristforthe Grammy-award-winning Mars Volta, is set to make his directorial debutwith his feature film, ‘The Sentimental Engine Slayer.” The film willdebut at the International Film Festival Rotterdam on Feb. 4, according to www.spinner.com.

Rodriguez, formerly of El Paso, wrote and stars in the film. The plot follows a man who comes of age in a drug-addled El Paso set in the near future, according to the article.

Rodriguez has scored the films, “The Burning Plain” and “The Night Buffalo.”

Guillermo Arriaga, director of “the Burning Plain,” had high praise for Rodriguez in an article in the El Paso publication, What’s Up, last fall.

“This guy, Omar Rodriguez, is like something between Chopin and Jimi Hendrix,” Arriaga said. “He is very talented. “You would never imagine that it’s this guy that plays this kind of very hard rock. It was mellow and beautiful music. We tried to make it eclectic. It’s not a typical score. We became good friends. Now, by obligation, he has to do the music of every film I direct.”

Arriaga said Rodriguez is a voracious film fan who would watch films Arriaga recommended and then immediately call him up to talk about the films.