07/12/2021 - Jaime Lorente and Álvaro Cervantes breathe life into the two main sportsmen in Dani de la Orden and Àlex Murrull’s reenactment of an amazing aquatic feat at the Olympics

Dani de la Orden and Àlex Murrull have wrapped the shoot for Olympics [+see also:
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film profile], a feature written by Carlos Franco, in Barcelona and Andorra. The movie is based on the epic true story of the Spanish national water-polo team, which achieved one of the most impressive sporting feats of the Olympic Games in Barcelona. The film relives the herculean effort, the moments of tension, the suffering, the excitement and the comradeship of that legendary group of people who fought for their biggest dream: to get a gold medal at the Olympics. The movie stars Jaime Lorente (who also appeared in Tin & Tina not long ago – see the news) and Álvaro Cervantes (whose most recent title on general release is the sex-comedy Donde caben dos [+see also:
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film profile]), who play the two heavyweights on the national team: Pedro García Aguado and Manel Estiarte.

For the directors, the aim of the film is “to bring to the big screen an historic moment for our country – namely, the 1992 Olympic Games. This is the first film to be set at this thrilling event, reminding viewers of the events that unfolded more than 20 years ago and enabling younger audiences to discover an era that, because of their age, they have no experience of and which they deserve to become familiar with. Olympics pays tribute to a group of legendary sportspeople who proved that, if you put enough effort into it, you can achieve the goal you set out to achieve.”

The plot tells of how, just a few months ahead of the Olympic Games, the Spanish national water-polo team has every chance of going totally unnoticed. They are far from prepared and need nothing short of a miracle if they want to avoid making fools of themselves on their home turf. This miracle quickly arrives in the guise of a new coach with a reputation for being harsh and using working methods that are questionable, to say the least. To make matters worse, the team has two leaders, whose vastly different perspectives on this sport are a source of conflict between them. However, thanks to their superhuman efforts, teamwork and the support of the entire country, they will prove to the whole world that they can go further than they ever imagined.

While co-director and producer Àlex Murrull has worked as a camera operator on various documentaries and has directed three short films, taking on executive-production duties on both TV series and features, Dani de la Orden made his debut in 2013 with Barcelona Summer Night, a feature that he followed up with Barcelona Christmas Night [+see also:
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film profile] and, later on, mainstream comedies such as El pregón [+see also:
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film profile], El mejor verano de mi vida [+see also:
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film profile] (which grossed almost €3 million), plus his Málaga-screened movie Litus [+see also:
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film profile]. He also handled directing duties on several episodes of the Netflix series Elite. His most recent release, Crazy About Her, reached the number-one spot worldwide on that same platform, and his latest (family) comedy, Mamá o papá [+see also:
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film profile], a remake of the French hit, is due for release in Spanish theatres on 17 December.

Olympics is being produced by Playtime Movies and Sábado Películas, in co-production with Imminent Produccions (Andorra), and in collaboration with the Catalan Institute of Cultural Organisations (ICEC) and the government of Andorra. It will be distributed by Universal Pictures International Spain and boasts the involvement of RTVE. After its theatrical release, slated for 2 September 2022, it will be available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.

(Translated from Spanish)