16/03/2017 - This second full-length fiction film from the director of Blog is currently shooting in the German capital, bolstered by the participation of Isabel Coixet as associate producer

Alexandra Jiménez and Miki Esparbé on the set of Las distancias

If there is one European city where a hidden undercurrent of youthful energy seeps through the melancholy light of deepest winter, it’s the German capital. It is to Berlin that Elena Trapé has brought her team to shoot her second film, a drama entitled The Distances [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elena Trapé
film profile]. The film is being produced by Coming Soon Films — Marta Ramírez’s company, marking her first full-length venture following her work on shorts including Role and El vestido — and Miss Wasabi, set up by Isabel Coixet (Endless Night) as a vehicle for promoting up-and-coming female talent, which also produced Trapé’s 2015 documentary, Palabras, mapas, secretos y otras cosas.

Boasting a cast headed up by Alexandra Jiménez, Miki Esparbé, Isak Férriz, María Ribera and Bruno Sevilla, The Distances recounts the story of a group of friends who make a surprise visit to Berlin to help a much-loved colleague celebrate her 35^th birthday, only to be met with a reception that falls far short of the warm gratitude they were expecting. In Trapé’s hands, this scenario is woven into a reflection on friendship, the passing of time and unfulfilled dreams. It also allows her to paint a portrait of a generation that has become disillusioned, lost and self-obsessed, now forced by the advancing years to face up to problems they have long tried to ignore.

With her latest project, the director of Blog [+see also:
trailer
film profile] is crafting a pared-down, realist film. The cast give controlled performances, relying mainly on glances and subtle gestures to convey the conflicts tearing the characters apart. “I’m trying to emphasise this sense of getting right inside the lives of the characters, by filming in real locations and following them closely with the camera. I want the audience to feel like they are watching the events as they unfold, as if in real time, but to still retain a certain visual beauty and delicacy,” comments the director.

The screenplay was written by Miguel Ibáñez Monroy and Josan Hatero alongside Trapé, who completed the first draft of The Distances over the course of the four months she was able to spend in Berlin, a city that fascinates her, thanks to the Nipkow Programm. Financial partners include Televisión de Catalunya and Busse & Halberschmidt, with TVE, ICEC and ICAA also backing the production.

(Translated from Spanish)