Jaime Rosales brings loneliness to Croisette

by Vitor Pinto

20/04/2007 - While the Un Certain Regard selection is not yet complete – according to artistic director Thierry Fremaux, three or four more titles are expected to be revealed in the upcoming days – the only Spanish title lined up so far is La Soledad [trailer] (lit "Loneliness"), by 37-year-old director Jaime Rosales.

Rosales, who won the FIPRESCI award back in 2003 when his directorial debut The Hours of the Day screened at Cannes' sidebar section Directors Fortnight, will be present this year with a melodrama set in the outskirts of Madrid.

The script, written by Rosales and Enric Rufas, follows the lives of three women: Adela (Paloma Mozo), who lost her baby in a terrorist attack on a bus, Adela's flatmate Inés (Mirian Correa), and Inés' mother, Antonia (Petra Martínez), who has just been diagnosed with cancer.

Produced by Fresdeval Films, In Vitro Films S.A. and Wanda Vision S.A., La Soledad was the only Spanish project to be selected for the 22nd edition of the CineMart market of the Rotterdam Film Festival.

Born in Catalonia, Rosales studied management before heading to Cuba, where he studied cinema at the San Antonio de Baños School, and later to Australia, where he enrolled in the Australian Film Television and Radio School. Besides the aforementioned FIPRESCI award, he has also won two Goya nominations.