Aina Clotet is working on her feature directorial debut Oh Nora!
- The actress and screenwriter, creator of the award-winning series This is Not Sweden, stars in the film alongside Marc Soler, Naby Dakhli, Lloll Bertran and Guillermo Toledo
Filming has just wrapped on Oh Nora!, the debut feature film from actress Aina Clotet (winner of the Silver Biznaga at Malaga Film Festival for Los niños salvajes [+see also:
trailer
film profile], and in the Zonazine section for La filla d’algú [+see also:
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trailer
film profile], and recently seen in her first series as creator and lead This is Not Sweden [+see also:
series review
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interview: Aina Clotet
series profile], awarded at Canneseries and which she co-directed with other filmmakers). The film was shot over seven weeks on location in Badalona, Barcelona, El Garraf, Arenys de Munt, and San Francisco (USA).
With a script co-written by the filmmaker and her regular collaborator Valentina Viso (with whom she previously worked on This is Not Sweden), the film is set in a near future where extreme drought and mental health dominate the social and political agenda. Told as a dramatic comedy, it follows the story of its titular character, a woman on the cusp of turning 40 who must deal with getting her life back after surviving breast cancer. The fear of death—but more importantly, the will to live—form the core themes of the story.
Clotet stars alongside Marc Soler (who has appeared in the series Celeste [+see also:
series review
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interview: Diego San José
series profile] and La Academia [+see also:
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series profile]), French actor Naby Dakhli (Traces of Sandalwood [+see also:
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film profile], the series La casa de David), Lloll Bertran (the series La mirada de la Fiona) and Guillermo Toledo (recently seen in the film Escape [+see also:
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film profile] and in the series The Last Night at Tremore Beach [+see also:
trailer
series profile]). The cast also includes Zaïra Pérez, Xavi Daura, Wiz Problema and Laura Conejero.
According to Aina Clotet (who in 2016 directed the short film Tiger, starring herself and her partner, actor Marcel Borràs), “Oh Nora! is a project I began developing a few years ago, born from a need to explore two themes that have been very important to me: the fear of death, the impermanence that is so hard to grasp, and dependence in relationships, particularly in romantic love. Valentina Viso and I have written a script that opens in a moment of brightness: the protagonist has just emerged from a difficult period and, filled with renewed energy, she is ready to live life to the fullest. But so much life, so much light, can also blind and burn—you should never look at the sun directly. We want to tell a story of mourning and transformation, but with a vibrant and humorous approach.”
Oh Nora! is produced by Edmon Roch for Ikiru Films, Marta Baldó and actor Marc Clotet -who is also Aina's brother- (Funicular Films), with the participation of 3Cat and Movistar Plus+, and supported by the ICEC and ICAA, as well as Badalona City Council and Reactivació Badalona. As a project, this film was selected in laboratories such as Torino Film Lab, Abycine Lanza and the Catalan Film Academy-Faberllull Residency. Distributor Caramel Films will soon release the film in Spanish cinemas.
(Translated from Spanish)
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