Going undercover with The Mole Agent
data-src=https://creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/avatars/332115/6078a67887db9-bpthumb.jpg data-srcset=https://creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/avatars/332115/6078a6785ea00-bpfull.jpg 2x class=lazyload avatar avatar-80 photo height=80 width=80 />
Meagan Keane April 15, 2021
0 Comments
Featured as a nominee for Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards, The Mole Agent tells the story of an 83-year-old man who is hired by a private investigator to disguise himself as a resident in a Chilean retirement home suspected of elder abuse. Surprisingly heartwarming and charming while offering the intrigue of a detective mission, the film shines a light on the realities of growing old and coping with the loneliness that can accompany living in a facility. The Mole Agent received the 2021 Cinema Eye Honors Award for The Unforgettables.
We sat down with the editor, Carolina Siraqyan, to find out more about the making of the film using Premiere Pro. We spoke with her about challenges she faced during the edit as well as during her career and how she overcame them.
Some contents or functionalities here are not available due to your cookie preferences!
This happens because the functionality/content marked as Google Youtube uses cookies that you choosed to keep disabled. In order to view this content or use this functionality, please enable cookies: click here to open your cookie preferences.
How and where did you first learn to edit?I studied audiovisual communications in my home country of Chile. In all the fields of this profession, editing, without a doubt, captured me.
I began working as an editing assistant, with a Moviola 35 mm in the 90's, with an editor that was very generous and shared all his knowledge with me. Since then, I have been learning through my experience of more than 30 years of work.
How do you begin a project/set up your workspace?When I begin a project, I dedicate an important amount of time deciding how I structure its order. I think that each project has a certain methodology of order and its own details that must be analyzed. This will allow for fluidity in the future. In documentaries like The Mole Agent, the order of material is more complex as there is no script, so you have to order the material in such a way that you can easily remember and quickly find shots to combine in the best way.
In The Mole Agent, there were 72 days of shooting and I had two months visualizing and cataloging in order to register the material according to certain parameters that I had decided.
Tell us about a favorite scene or moment from this project and why it stands out to you.One of my favorites, because I have a number of them, or at least one that strongly underlines the message of the film, is when Sergio is speaking in the garden with the old lady, who recites a poem and then she recounts her loneliness, which moves me even after having seen it a thousand times. I feel that this scene expresses perfectly the reality of old age, which cannot be eluded.
After several screenings to colleagues who shared their thoughts and opinions with us, an important moment during the credits occurred when they all spoke of their elderly relatives, their mothers and not of the film. In that moment, with [director] Maite Alberdi, we realized we were on the right road, and we had the general structure of the film.
data-src=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/15203351/MoleAgent2_gravitasVentures.jpg alt= class=lazyload wp-image-2408161/>Image source: Gravitas Ventures.
What were some specific post-production challenges you faced that were unique to your project? How did you go about solving them?The greatest challenge I had to face was moving my office from Chile to Amsterdam for 2 months to work on the edit.
There I changed my office twice with different computers, the first wasn't a Mac, which is what I usually work with, and so it made me feel slightly insecure being unable to solve problems with the operating system. But once I could open Premiere Pro, I felt at ease as it was the same as working on my usual Mac.
Afterwards we moved to another office with an iMac, similar to what I work with. And once the peak files were generated, I could finally work fluidly.
At last, it was only a case of stress by the change. The program worked perfectly - it was like working from my own office.
What Adobe tools did you use on this project and why did you originally choose them? Why were they the best choice for this project?I edited the whole movie with Premiere Pro. One of the tools I find very useful are the markers, I used them very often to make comments and mark segments.
I had more than 300 hours of material, 72 days of shooting, which I ordered by day, using the markers with comments. I made a Word document with the same points of the markers underlining the details of all the situations, so that I could find quickly what I was looking for.
What do you like about Premiere Pro, and/or any of the other tools you used?I picked Premiere Pro for its versatility in all the formats. I also like its playfulness and the flexibility of its timeline. It makes me feel very natural - I don't have to deal with anything technical so that I can dedicate myself to the creative process.
I think and feel that it's a program that allows me the liberty to choose how I work and how I organize my material.
What's your hidden gem/favorite workflow hack in Adobe Creative Cloud?I do have many things that help me with my work, but if I had to choose, they would be the available stock material that Adobe provides (typography, music and texture), especially in my advertising work as it is always a very time demanding job.
Also, it is very helpful that you can change from one computer to another, and I don't have to worry ab
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
18/05/2026
Despite a bumpy start to the year, the provider of event-production support and ...
18/05/2026
Daktronics has partnered with the University of North Carolina to manufacture and install 11 LED displays totaling more than 10,000 square feet and more than 14...
18/05/2026
CBS LA has announced a multi-year partnership with the Los Angeles Rams, covering exclusive local broadcasts of Rams preseason games, weekly year-round programm...
18/05/2026
Skyline Communications has announced an integration between its DataMiner xOps p...
18/05/2026
eCLUTCH, the hybrid esports platform powered by iKOMG, has announced an expansion of its distribution across Europe, MENA, Africa, and Asia, along with new cont...
18/05/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
18/05/2026
With 22 games this season, the production team looks forward to tweaking and enhancing the coverage
After 8,660 days off the air, the WNBA returned to NBC yest...
18/05/2026
(L-R) Midori Francis and Natalie Erika James attend the Saccharine premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 22, 2026, in ...
18/05/2026
Last night, the Spotify Podcast Awards in Mexico returned to the country's capital. Now in its second year, the evening honors creators whose voices are hel...
18/05/2026
ZEN-Core synth goes mobile
Roland's powerful ZEN-Core software synthesizer has just been introduced to the iPad, offering a convenient entry point into ...
18/05/2026
Versatile new limiter plug-in announced
Based in Sheffield, UK, fedDSP offer a range of plug-ins that span the music production, live sound and high-end med...
18/05/2026
A new use for convolution?
Viiri Audio's debut plug-in aims to do something a little different with convolution processing, allowing users to adjust all...
18/05/2026
Delta Goodrem shines for SBS as more than 3.27 million Australians tune in for E...
18/05/2026
The Australian Defence Force uses L3Harris T4 and T7 robots for explosive ordnan...
18/05/2026
Continued investment across Europe and Germany is expanding local teams and improving access to stock, regional expertise, and specialist broadcast support.
CV...
18/05/2026
18 May 2026
Dubai and New York, May 18, 2026 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a glob...
18/05/2026
Monday 18 May 2026
Sky News offers ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes for just...
18/05/2026
Comscore March 2026 Consumer AI Chatbot Usage Rankings Show Claude Gaining Share OpenAI's ChatGPT maintains lead while Anthropic's Claude continues to c...
17/05/2026
Delta Goodrem's Eurovision Eclipse marks end of a stellar run
17 May, 2026
Media releases
Bulgaria wins Eurovision 2026
Relive every spellbinding mome...
17/05/2026
Back to All News
Oasis Premieres on Netflix June 19
Entertainment
17 May 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Summer, sunshine, the beach, parties. T...
16/05/2026
Helps to deliver a clean, balanced midrange
Developed alongside Newfangled Audio, the latest plug-in in Eventide's software collection has been designed...
16/05/2026
Brings onboard stem rendering to RANE System One
Engine DJ have just released Engine DJ 5.0, a free update for their Engine DJ OS embedded hardware and Engi...
16/05/2026
Boris FX Continuum Pairs AI Precision and Advanced Creative Controls
Jessie Electa Petrov May 16, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic de...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Seattle Sounders FC and Seattle Reign FC, in partnership with RAVE Foundation an...
15/05/2026
Dan Brumm has served as sound designer on Bluey, the Australian children's t...
15/05/2026
The Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) and Shure Incorporated are accepting applications for the 6th annual Mark Brunner Professional Audio Schola...
15/05/2026
Netflix has announced an expanded NFL schedule for 2026 and beyond under a four-year partnership extension with the NFL through the 2029-30 season. Each season,...
15/05/2026
Ateme is supporting TVRI (Televisi Republik Indonesia) with a contribution and d...
15/05/2026
Concacaf has announced the launch of a new website and mobile app built on Deltatre's FORGE platform. Concacaf.com and the mobile app, available on iOS and ...
15/05/2026
Eutelsat has announced the launch of QBC Business Economic Channel by Qatar Media Corporation, broadcasting in 4K/UHD via Eutelsat's 7/8 West video neighbo...
15/05/2026
Major League Soccer has announced four original content series timed to the 2026...
15/05/2026
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has announced it will exhibit and present at InfoComm 2026, taking place June 13-19 at the Las Vegas Convention Cente...
15/05/2026
InfoComm 2026 will take place June 13-19 (exhibits June 17-19) at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The show will include sessions and exhibits covering broadcas...
15/05/2026
Tracy McGrady's Ones Basketball League (OBL) and FuboTV Inc. have announced ...
15/05/2026
Disguise has partnered with Creative Technology (CT) to deliver visual playback ...
15/05/2026
Sony Electronics has announced two new products for professional imaging: the Alpha 7R VI full-frame mirrorless camera and the FE 100-400mm F4.5 GM OSS super-te...
15/05/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
15/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
15/05/2026
For sports organizations, the most valuable assets are often the most sensitive:...
15/05/2026
The NFL's broadcast partners released their 2026 regular season schedules ye...
15/05/2026
Besides drawing on experience with boxing, the production integrates specialty c...
Going undercover with The Mole Agent 
