03/06/2003 - Shooting starts on Mar Adentro, in September, the fourth film by the director of The Others: the Spanish actor will be the invalid who claims the right to die with dignity

Alejandro Amenabar is going back behind the camera for Mar Adentro, shooting on which will be starting in September, in Madrid, Barcelona and Galicia. It’s the fourth feature length film by the Spanish director and is the story of Ramòn Sampedro, a tetraplegic who battles for 25 years for the right to die with dignity, sparking off a huge debate amongst institutions and the public.
The role of this determined and courageous man will be played by Javier Bardem. The actor was awarded with a Goya for his latest part, in Mondays in the Sun [+see also:
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film profile] and received an Oscar nomination for Before Night Falls. Bardem doesn’t hide his enthusiasm for this new experience, which will be his first time working with Amenabar, the director who became famous abroad after the success of his last film, The Others. It’s a difficult test for a thorny but gripping issue that Amenabar wanted to tackle after many years of reflection. "It’s the story of those people who are profoundly free" he stated and Bardem added "About a man whose only God is his own conscience".
Mar Adentro is a Spanish-Italian co-production involving Sogecine and Amenabar's production slate, Himenoptero, and Lucky Red, who will also distribute the title in Italy.

(Translated from Italian)