Founder and director of Guspira Films since 2023, after working at Boogaloo Films, Spanish producer Montse Pujol-Solà's recent credits include Downriver a Tiger [+lee también:
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entrevista: Ana Cristina Barragán
ficha de la película] by Ana Cristina Barragán (winner of this year's Best Screenplay Award at Venice Orizzonti). She is attending the 47th Montpellier Film Festival, where she is pitching the project The Eels' Dilemma by her compatriot Elena Molina (Remember My Name [+lee también:
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Cineuropa: You had already worked with Elena Molina on the documentary Remember My Name (Audience Award at Malaga in 2023). What motivated you to take on the role of producer for her first feature film, The Eel's Dilemma?
Montse Pujol-Solà: I really like Elena Molina's ability to talk about our harsh reality in a luminous way. She has a great deal of empathy in her work with characters, so she can recreate the hardest moments, but also the most joyful ones, without ever falling into self-pity and while treating the characters as equals. I find that quite unique, and it's what I like most about her. It was already present in her documentary Remember My Name, and it's just as present in The Eel's Dilemma.

What is The Eel's Dilemma about?
The story centres on Dolors, a young woman who grew up in foster care. At 18, she moved into a transitional flat to help her become independent. She can live there until she turns 20, and the story begins just before that date. Time is running out: she has to find a new place to live and wants to get her driving licence so she can fulfil her desire to visit her mother. But both of these goals prove difficult: she fails her driving test and can't find anywhere to live. So all her plans begin to fall apart and as the film progresses and complications arise, she feels the need to get closer to a new group of friends who impart ideas about meritocracy and individual effort. But she will have to choose between these new friends or fight for the family she has created in the flat with her flatmates.

Will the cast be made up of professionals? Non-professionals?
Both. The leading roles, those of the protagonist Dolors and her two flatmates (Ghizlane and Flor), will be played by non-professionals. We are going to hold an open casting call and will probably call on girls who have lived in homes for minors. But for the other roles, we plan to work with professionals, including a famous actress in Spain who has already agreed to take part, but whose identity I would prefer to keep secret for now. With the entire cast, we want to set up a collaborative rehearsal process in order to readjust the script, particularly the dialogue, to make it as authentic as possible.

What stage is the project at?
We have a first draft of the script and Elena is now working on version 2. We have received regional development support in Catalonia. Our goal is to launch production financing next spring. If all goes well, we hope to shoot in Barcelona in 2027 and deliver the film the following year.

What is Guspira Films' editorial line?
The company is very young and focuses more on fiction than documentaries. Co-productions and collaborative processes are also objectives because I believe that this is how cinema should evolve: it is not an individual art form, but a team effort. In addition, I am looking for stories told from a female perspective or from LGBTQ collectives, but also stories with an important visual aspect: stories, but also images.