08/05/2023 - David Verdaguer plays the famous Catalan comedian who, with his sarcastic jokes, helped ease the transition to democracy in Spain with humour

Director David Trueba with actor David Verdaguer as Eugenio in an image from the presentation of Jokes & Cigarettes

Last week, filming started in Barcelona of Jokes & Cigarettes, directed by David Trueba (selected at Cannes in 2002 with Soldiers of Salamina, at Sundance in 2011 with Madrid, 1987 [+see also:
trailer
interview: María Valverde
film profile], and at San Sebastian in 2013 with Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed [+see also:
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interview: David Trueba
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interview: David Trueba
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The plot features Eugenio (played by David Verdaguer, recently seen in the series Historias para no dormir [+see also:
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This feature film is written by Trueba from a screenplay by Albert Espinosa (Live Is Life) based on the books Eugenio and Saben aquell que diu, by Gerard Jofra, the comedian’s son. The cast is completed by Pedro Casablanc (whom we will see in Pedro Almodóvar’s Extraña forma de vida, to be presented at Cannes), Marina Salas (who previously worked with Yuste in El cover [+see also:
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David Trueba says that "this is a film about humour. And about survival. Eugenio was one of the most popular comedians of the Transition. Everything about his appearance was at odds with humour: a serious man, with no gestures, hiding behind tinted glasses and a black shirt, with a lit cigarette behind a microphone, who would be the one to make a whole country laugh. But... what was hidden inside him?"

The producer Edmon Roch (Ikiru Films) says that, "I remember when I went to see the comedian who made people laugh before he’d even opened his mouth. I was ten years old and I could see my parents laughing their heads off at the sight of this tall man sitting on a stool, stretching out his every movement with an unperturbed gesture before he started to speak. There was a liturgy, an expectation, a palpable ritual. Later, when I discovered Buster Keaton, I thought of Eugenio's unflappable face, he’s still present in our memory and his humour lives on."

Jokes & Cigarettes is produced by Ikiru Films, Atresmedia Cine and La Terraza Films, with the participation of Atresmedia, Movistar Plus+, HBO Max, and with the support of ICEC and TVC. The film will be distributed in Spanish cinemas by Warner Bros Pictures. Its international sales agent is Film Factory.

(Translated from Spanish by Vicky York)