14/02/2008

The Panorama Special section today presented one of the tour Spanish titles selected at the Berlinale: Before the Fall (3 días) by debut filmmaker Javier Gutiérrez.

Shot in Seville, this sci-fi thriller is set in an unspecified future and explores how ordinary people react to an apocalyptic scenario: the imminent annihilation of humanity caused by an enormous meteorite hurtling towards Earth.

A television announcement from the United Nations upsets the Spanish village of Laguna: in three days the world will end in the terrible crash. Young, indolent Alex thinks he’ll spend his last moments at home, listening to music while chaos and fear break loose outside. But when a dangerous criminal intent on exacting revenge on his brother escapes from prison, Alex is forced him to react.

"I think that having a promotional platform such as Berlin is compensation for the enormous teamwork we did,” said the Andalusian director. "This film is a very personal thriller, a modern and innovative story, in which I mixed different genres to offer a possible depiction of the end of the world".

Together with his producers Maestranza Films and Green Moon España (owned by Antonio Banderas who like Gutiérrez is a native of Cordova), the young filmmaker recently inaugurated a new project, Nuevos Cineastas Andaluces (NCA), aimed at helping the his region’s film industry and directors.

Besides Maestranza and Green Moon, the film was produced by Pentagrama Films, with support from TVE, Canal Sur and the Junta de Andalucía. International sales are behind handled by Spain’s Filmax International.

(Translated from Italian)