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PRODUCTION / FUNDING Spain

Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz to act side by side again

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- The two stars will be the protagonists of the Spanish flick Official Competition, directed by Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn, who were festooned with awards for The Distinguished Citizen

Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz to act side by side again
Actor Antonio Banderas and actress Penélope Cruz

Even though in Pain & Glory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Antonio Banderas
Q&A: Pedro Almodóvar
film profile
]
, Madrilenian actress Penélope Cruz plays the mother of the child who goes on to be film director Salvador Mallo, played by Malaga-born thesp Antonio Banderas, these two world-famous stars did not actually meet on set or on the big screen at the time, given that the older version of the mother is played by Julieta Serrano, who won a Goya for this very role. But curiously enough, it was in the amusing prologue to I’m So Excited [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, another film by Pedro Almodóvar, where Banderas and Cruz did rub shoulders years before, playing a couple who worked in the airport that served as the departure point for the plane in which most of the action in that comedy would unfold. But very soon, they will be working side by side once again in Official Competition [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, the shoot for which will kick off at the end of February in Spain. The movie will be directed by one of the most creative, scathing and interesting duos in South America, Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn, who were behind the marvel that was The Distinguished Citizen [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, which was festooned with awards all over the world.

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The cast is rounded off by Óscar Martínez (who gave an incredible performance and showed off his masterful acting skills in The Distinguished Citizen, for which he received the Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival in 2016), José Luis Gómez (winner of the Best Actor Award at Cannes in 1976 for Pascual Duarte by Ricardo Franco, and who played Unamuno in the feature La isla del viento [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, before Karra Elejalde did likewise in While at War [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alejandro Amenábar
film profile
]
), Carlos Hipólito, Koldo Olabarri, Irene Escolar, Nagore Aramburu, Pilar Castro and Juan Grandinetti, the son of another “Almodóvar boy”, Darío Grandinetti (Talk to Her [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, Julieta [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Pedro Almodóvar
film profile
]
).

According to the press release provided by the producer, Banderas and Martínez breathe life into two actors with very different careers, whose working methods will come into conflict as they prepare for a film financed by a renowned, greedy millionaire and directed by a well-regarded and somewhat eccentric filmmaker, to be played by Penélope Cruz.

Production duties on Official Competition are being taken care of by Mediapro Studio, the company headed up by Jaume Roures and which was last year involved in the most recent film by US helmer Woody Allen, shot in San Sebastián in the summer (see the news). This means that this is the third time that the Catalan company has teamed up with the Argentinian filmmakers, as they did so previously on My Masterpiece [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gastón Duprat
film profile
]
, directed and written by Duprat, and 4x4 [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, helmed by Cohn from a screenplay that he penned himself together with his occasional collaborator.

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(Translated from Spanish)

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