SAN SEBASTIÁN 2024 New Directors
Review: As Silence Passes By
- Sandra Romero resorts to emotions within the family and quasi-documentary authenticity in her feature debut, as her character returns to his roots amidst conflicts and feelings of guilt
Sandra Romero will be a name to remember on the Spanish film scene in the coming months. That’s because, at 31 years of age, she has already been rubbing shoulders with names of the likes of Rodrigo Sorogoyen: she directed various episodes of the series The New Years [+see also:
series review
trailer
series profile], as well as having world-premiered her feature debut, As Silence Passes By [+see also:
trailer
interview: Sandra Romero
film profile], in the New Directors section of the 72nd San Sebastián Film Festival, to a highly enthusiastic response.
Bearing the same Spanish title as her short film, which won an award at the 2020 Málaga Film Festival, her feature debut revolves around the figure of Antonio (played by Antonio Araque, who appeared in Amanece and Notes on a Summer [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), who returns from Madrid to his town in Jaén during the Easter holidays. There, he stumbles upon everything he left behind: a family that’s far from perfect, an old flame and, most importantly, a whirlwind of emotions that he thought belonged to the past, as well as a certain feeling of disorientation.
Like a leech, this extremely personal movie latches onto reality and extracts from it the topics and emotions that Romero is most interested in, and with which she can fully identify, as she calls on her own friends (Antonio Araque and his brother, Javier Araque, a non-professional actor) and draws on her place of birth, Écija. Thus, the landscapes of Andalusia and their peculiarities – where the family emerges as a solid, demanding and immovable cornerstone of life – constitute the surroundings that the main character passes through once again, carrying the weight of the inner contradiction of drifting between the recognisable and, at the same time, feeling out of place.
The clash between individuality and belonging is another of the subjects broached by this filmmaker, who has crammed much of her actors’ own lives into her movie: Javier Araque lays bare the illness afflicting him in front of the camera, which reopens the pandora’s box of the guilt that his twin brother feels for having been lucky enough not to suffer from the same sickness, and the doubt surrounding whether or not he’s helping him from afar.
What’s more, Romero has used various non-professional actors (Javier and his sister María, for instance), combined – not always perfectly harmoniously – with professionals like Mona Martínez (Adiós [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Paco Cabezas
film profile]) and Tamara Casellas (Ama [+see also:
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film profile]). From this blend emerges a harsh, gritty portrait of family relations in which people sometimes don’t love each other in a healthy way, a lack of communication reigns and people are overly demanding. All of this is captured by the filmmaker with absolutely no artifice and an abundance of spontaneity, bringing to mind Between Two Waters [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Isaki Lacuesta
film profile], another movie about two brothers – another pair of big kids, like the ones in Romero’s movie – and set in the south of Spain, which earned Isaki Lacuesta his second Golden Shell at this very festival six years ago.
As Silence Passes By is a production by Playa Chica Films, Mammut Films, Icónica Producciones and Aúna Producciones. Its international sales have been entrusted to Latido Films.
(Translated from Spanish)
Photogallery 25/09/2024: San Sebastian 2024 - Por donde pasa el silencio
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