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PRODUCTION / FUNDING Spain

Antonio Méndez Esparza finishes filming Que nadie duerma

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- Malena Alterio stars in the adaptation of the novel of the same name by Juan José Millás, written by the director together with Clara Roquet

Antonio Méndez Esparza finishes filming Que nadie duerma
Actress Malena Alterio and director Antonio Méndez Esparza on the set of Que nadie duerma

On Friday 8 April, the filming of Que nadie duerma [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Antonio Méndez Esparza
film profile
]
, the fourth feature film of the Madrid native Antonio Méndez Esparza, but the first to be shot in his home country, finished in the Spanish capital. The film is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Juan José Millás, with a script written by the filmmaker together with Clara Roquet (Libertad [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Clara Roquet
film profile
]
, Goya for best new director in 2021). The film features a cast headed by Malena Alterio (soon to star in Espejo, espejo [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
), Aitana Sánchez Gijón (seen last year in Parallel Mothers [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
film profile
]
), Rodrigo Poisón, José Luis Torrijo, Manuel de Blas and Mariona Ribas.

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It is a road movie that tells the story of Lucía (played by Malena Alterio, in an unusual role for her, very different to the comedies that made her famous) who, after losing her job as a computer programmer, decides to turn her life around and become a taxi driver. At the wheel of her car and driving through the streets of Madrid, she patiently waits for the chance to pick up her missing neighbour, who she has fallen in love with, and realises that she should never have trusted anyone she confided in.

We spoke to Pedro Hernández Santos (Aquí y Allí Films), Méndez Esparza’s producer ever since his debut film, to hear about this recently completed shoot, the first time the director has filmed in Spain. "It was a carefully thought-out decision. He is barely known here, and he had to come with a clearly-defined project, so we thought that the best way was to adapt a novel. We read many, but he especially liked this one by Millás and we agreed that Malena Alterio would be the best protagonist. And Millás, who is charming and hilarious, talked to Antonio about his proposal; he thought it was great and didn't interfere in anything, as he didn't want to affect the film with his decisions and opinions".

After studying law in Madrid, Antonio Méndez Esparza studied film directing at Columbia University in New York and is a professor at Florida State University. After winning the Critics’ Week Grand Prize at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival with his debut film Aquí y Allá: Here and There [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pedro Hernández
film profile
]
, he shot Life and Nothing More [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Antonio Méndez Esparza
film profile
]
in 2017 winning the John Cassavetes Award at the Film Independent Spirit Awards. At the 2020 San Sebastian Festival, he presented the documentary Courtroom 3H [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Antonio Méndez Esparza
film profile
]
, filmed, like all his previous films, in the United States.

Que nadie duerma is a production by Aquí y Allí Films, Wanda Visión and Que Nadie Duerma AIE, supported by ICAA, Comunidad de Madrid and Impulsa Castilla La Mancha, and in collaboration with TeleMadrid. Wanda Visión will distribute the film in Spain, and Film Factory will manage international sales.

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(Translated from Spanish by Vicky York)

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