Shooting on the fiction feature No lo grites (lit. "Don't Shout About It"), the directorial debut by Martín Jalfen and Miguel Usandivaras, wrapped last Friday after five weeks of filming on location in Córdoba and Misiones, Argentina. Editing and post-production will soon take place in Spain and Italy. Conceived as a realist coming-of-age film exploring homophobia in professional football, the movie is toplined by Vincenzo Nemolato, recently seen in Duse; Carlos Bardem, whose film Papers was released this year; Majo Cabrera, from Just One Spring and the series Nothing; Max Suen (The Pleasure Is Mine); Astor Daga (Paula); Cristóbal Lopez Baena (The Longest Summer); and Maximiliano Martínez, making his acting debut here.

Written by Matías Corbelle and Leandro Custo, from an original idea by Corbelle, Edoardo Rossi and the two directors, the screenplay tells the story of Maxi (Maximiliano Martínez), a promising young footballer who lives in the jungle of Misiones, Argentina, and is harbouring a secret: he is in love with his friend Julián. When an Italian talent scout, played by Neapolitan actor Vincenzo Nemolato, and an experienced scout, portrayed by Spain’s Carlos Bardem, arrive on the scene, Maxi finds himself torn between pursuing his dream of becoming a professional footballer and remaining true to himself and his identity. It is a decision that could change his life forever.

The directors explain: “This film was born of a question, a concern that hovered over us for a long time: how is it possible that there are no active professional footballers who have come out as gay? Rather than trying to answer it, we decided to tell this story.

“The movie is set in Misiones, a region where nature imposes its own rhythm on life. The rivers, the red earth and the vegetation seem to exist apart from the rest of the world, as though they had preserved a state of freedom that is becoming increasingly difficult to find. In this landscape, we encounter Maxi, a boy who lives as naturally as a fish in water, until the arrival of the football business begins to disrupt that balance,” they continue. “Football emerges not only as the promise of a future, but also as a force capable of shaping identities, imposing silence and determining how a person is allowed to exist in the world.”

No lo grites is a co-production by Alejandro Israel, of Argentina’s Ajimolido Films; Albert Soler, of Spain’s Mamma Team; Edoardo Rossi, of Italy’s OMDT; and Alessandro Borrelli, of fellow Italian outfit La Sarraz Pictures, together with Argentinian production outfits Jaque Content and Monte Cine. The film is supported by the INCAA, Ibermedia, the Córdoba Audiovisual Hub, IAAVIM, Creative Europe - MEDIA, the Torino Piemonte Film Commission and the Italian Ministry of Culture.