09/05/2019 - Spanish director and producer Carles Torras, selected as one of the 2019 Producers on the Move, discusses his work for his outfit Zabriskie Films

Carles Torras founded his Barcelona-based company Zabriskie Films in 2007 after directing such films as Youth and Trash. He produced his third feature, Open 24h (2011) as well as Aram Garriga's documentary American Jesus (2013) before making his first foray into English-language fiction production with the New York-set thriller Callback [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carles Torras
film profile] that won three Golden Biznaga Awards at the Malaga Film Festival in 2016. Carles is currently in postproduction on Garriga's new documentary American Satan and is developing his own new feature project, the psychological thriller The Paramedic, as well as sci-fi series The Invasion by Héctor Hernández Vicens. Torras has now been selected as one of the 2019 Producers on the Move by European Film Promotion.

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European Film Promotion: Which is the film you are most proud of and why?
Carles Torras: The film which I'm more proud of is maybe Callback (2016), which I directed and produced in New York. It was really hard to get the funds for this small and independent production and we are very proud of the result and the recognitions we got. We won the Golden Biznaga Awards for Best Film, Best Script and Best Actor at the Malaga Film Festival and the Jury Award at the Brussels Film Festival among other prices. The film also participated at San Sebastian Film Festival, Festival de Mar del Plata and Sitges Film Festival among many others and was distributed in Latin America by Buenavista International.

What are the challenges and merits of producing in your country?
The biggest challenge of producing in Spain is the reduced budget of public funds for cinema in the last years, especially for independent productions. The difficulties to find distribution are also a huge problem. The merit is being able to produce films despite these conditions.

What are your expectations in Cannes as one of the Producers on the Move?
My expectations are to put my projects under the spotlight and do a step forward in my international career.

What are your next projects?
My next projects are the feature films The Paramedic, an unconventional psychological thriller about a psychopath confined to a wheelchair, and Upon Entry, an immigration drama about a couple trapped in the migration area of an airport when entering in the US.

We also have three documentaries in production: American Satan, about the Church of Satan, Isis Widows, about a group of young western girls, widows of ISIS fighters living in camp in Syria, and Gogor, The Jail of Priests about the prison for priests in Spain during the Franco regime.

In addition to that we are developing the sci-fi series The Invasion by Héctor Hernandez Vicens (The Corpse of Anna Fritz [+see also:
trailer
film profile], 2015).