Elena Martín filming Creatura
- The actress’s sophomore directorial effort will star Oriol Pla, Clara Segura and Àlex Brendemühl, alongside Martín herself
On 22 August, filming kicked off for Creatura [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elena Martín Gimeno
film profile], the new film by Elena Martín, on location in Sant Vicenç de Montalt, L’Escala, Blanes, Barcelona and Sitges. Principal photography will continue until the last week of September. The actress was among the cast of Les amigues de l'Àgata [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] and subsequently made the leap behind the camera with Júlia Ist [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elena Martín
film profile], as well as participating in the scriptwriting process for Veneno [+see also:
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series profile] and directing episodes of the series Perfect Life [+see also:
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series profile] and At Home.
Creatura stars the filmmaker herself, Clàudia Malagelada and Mila Borràs, who step into the shoes of Mila at the ages of 35, 15 and five, respectively. Furthermore, the cast is rounded off by Oriol Pla (whom we will see shortly in Wild Flowers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jaime Rosales
film profile], the new outing by Jaime Rosales), Àlex Brendemühl (soon to appear in Staring at Strangers [+see also:
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interview: Félix Viscarret
film profile] by Félix Viscarret and Stories Not to Be Told [+see also:
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interview: Cesc Gay
film profile] by Cesc Gay) and Clara Segura (Crazy About Her).
The film’s screenplay – which features dialogue in Catalan – is the work of Martín and Clara Roquet (who made her directorial debut with Libertad [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Clara Roquet
film profile]), and tells of how Mila and her partner move to a town on the Costa Brava. After an initial argument, she starts to warn him that the death of desire stems from a deep and distant, but still personal, place. Alone in her family’s summer house, she relives some of the experiences from her childhood and her teenage years; memories that will help her understand the origins of what has been hindering her from being able to make peace with her own body and maintain a more honest relationship with the ones she loves.
According to Martín, “Creatura was born of the need to continue exploring the world of female identity, which is something immensely interesting, as it is still very strongly linked to repression. In this case, I’m focusing on the relationship that we women have with our sexuality and the repercussions of normalised sexual repression. On the journey of making this film, I decided to go deeper into a world full of taboos, such as female sexuality in childhood, the very origin of this subconscious repression. Through this story, I wish to understand the relationship that women have with guilt, revulsion and shame: these are emotions that are closely related to repression and abuse. I am especially interested in repression, but there is an unbreakable link with the threat of abuse in the structure of our society. I wish to analyse and sever the relationship between sex and danger, laying bare my doubts about fear as a protective measure in Christian upbringing.”
Creatura is a production by Vilaüt Films, Avalon PC, Elastica Films and Lastor Media, in co-production with TV3, with the involvement of Filmin, and with support from the ICAA, ICEC and Creative Europe – MEDIA. In addition, the project took part in Ikusmira Berriak, the lab that takes place at the San Sebastián Film Festival. It is slated for release in 2023, set to be distributed by Avalon DA.
(Translated from Spanish)
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