Archive of films Dead Hand Knocking / Mà morta truca a la porta
Spain
2007, 85 min
Section:
Another View
Year: 2008
A labyrinth of stories in an urban microcosm of Barcelona, where human fates intermingle at their neuralgic points in a strange bookshop which draws together the threads of love and aging, loneliness, necessity and futility...
Synopsis
Stories of love, death and sex that weave fiction into reality and irony into humour, and also show us the secrets, emotions and passions of characters whose lives intersect all around the city of Barcelona. In this small but significant urban microcosm we witness the tragic and poetic story of Jan, an illustrator of children’s books, and his 7-year-old daughter, Nora, whose favourite game is that which gives the film its name. The vulnerable existence of this pair is part of a delicate web of other duos and solitaires such as Claudia, a single mother and cleaning lady who haggles with St. Peter, the successful lawyers Ernest and Julia, who are not quite what they seem; the austere security guard Gasull, who lives with his mother and is enamoured with a certain fragrance; the sad and sorry public servant Dalmau, who must die in order to discover whether anyone loves him, or the tale of a young couple who fall suddenly in love and remain devoted to their dying day. And all of these worlds intermingle in a peculiar way in the the strange Rayuela bookshop with its salesgirl Pili, a one-time upscale call girl, who now represents elusive, all-embracing love...
About the director
Ramón Costafreda (b. 1955, Mos, Pontevedra, Spain) has been shooting commercials for international companies all over the world since 1989. He has a number of awards to his credit, including 14 Pavos Reales (the Goya of the Spanish advertising industry) and a Grand Prix for Advertising from the international festival in San Sebastian. His first feature work, the made-for-television film Más que hermanos (2005), was highly acclaimed among viewers in Spain. His film debut, the comedy Wrap Up (Abrígate, 2006), which he also wrote, again won not only the Audience Award but also the TVE Award and the award for Best Actress at the Lleida Latin-American Film Festival. His next film, Dead Hand Knocking (Mà morta truca a la porta, 2007), is based on a work by the prominent Catalan writer Sergi Pàmies and uses distinctive experimental methods. Costafreda has been teaching at Madrid’s ECAM film school since 2003.
Contacts
Diagonal Televisió
carrer Domenech, 7-9, 08012, Barcelona
Spain
Tel: +34 932 688 530
Fax: +34 932 688 532
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.diagonaltv.es
About the film
Color, HD CAM
International premiere
Section: | Another View |
---|---|
Director: | Ramón Costafreda |
Screenplay: | Miquel Obiols |
Dir. of Photography: | Xavier Gil |
Music: | Xavier Font & Arturo Vaquero |
Editor: | Guillermo Represa |
Producer: | Albert Sagalés, Julio Casal, Mamen Quintas |
Production: | Diagonal Televisió |
Cast: | Leticia Dolera, Pablo Derqui, Gonzalo Cunill, Agustí Villaronga, Carol García, Carlos Blanco |
Contact: | Diagonal Televisió |
www: | www.diagonaltv.es/detall_produccio.php?id=61 |
Guests
Judi Sydes
Producer
Ramón Costafreda
Film Director, Film Director
Manuel Llamas
Film Institution Rep.
Claudi Niubo
Festival Consultant