25/07/2024 - Newcomer Jan Monter stars alongside Nausicaa Bonin and Jordi Oriol in a coming-of-age film co-written with Meritxell Colell that follows the course of the Danube River

Catalan director Jaume Claret Muxart has recently begun shooting his first feature film Strange River, a drama co-written with Meritxell Colell (director of Facing the Wind [+see also:
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film profile], selected at the Berlin Forum, and Dúo). It tells the journey of a teenager on a family cycling holiday along the banks of the Danube River. Shot in Catalan and in 16mm, the film stars Nausicaa Bonnín (Goya nominee for Three Days with the Family [+see also:
trailer
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series profile]) and Jordi Oriol, along with young newcomers Jan Monter, Bernat Solé, Francesco Wenz and Roc Colell, and will be shot over six weeks following the course of the Danube from the Black Forest through Bavaria to Austria.

The film will follow brothers Dídac (16) and Biel (14) as they cycle along the Danube with their family. Among the forests and the waters of the turbulent river they meet the mysterious Alexander. As the river widens, Alexander seduces Dídac, who, like the Danube, is growing fast.

In the words of the director, “this film came about out of the cycling trips I went on with my family every summer along a different river in Europe and wanting to portray this particular world in a romantic tone and of vital growth. The film is based on the geography of the Danube. The river, which is initially no more than a stream, widens as Dídac grows.”

Jaume Claret Muxart was part of the first generation of the Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola film school and has directed short films such as Ella i jo (2020), premiered at the San Sebastian Festival and the IFFR, and Die Donau (The Danube Rivers, 2022), premiered at the FIDMarseille and the Seminci in Valladolid. His work has also been presented at festivals such as FICUNAM, DocumentaMadrid, IndieLisboa, BlackCanvas, D'A Film Festival, among others. This film started development at the Elías Kerejeta Zine Eskola's Postgraduate Course in Film and Audiovisual Creation, and has participated in residencies and development laboratories such as Ikusmira Berriak (SSIFF), Residència de Guións de l'Acadèmia del Cinema Català, L'Alternativa Mentoring Projects and MAFIZ Malaga Spanish Screenings.

Strange River is a co-production between Spain and Germany by Alma Cinema AIE, made up of ZuZú Cinema and Miramemira, from Spain and Schuldenberg Films from Germany. The film is in partnership with 3CAT and is financed by Eurimages, ICAA, ICEC, FFF Bayern and DFFF.

(Translated from Spanish by Vicky York)