At the start of June, Sandra Romero wrapped the shoot for As Silence Passes By [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Sandra Romero
scheda film], a film based on the short film of the same name, which earned Romero the Award for Best Director in the relevant section of the 2020 Málaga Film Festival. Her latest short, El perro de un torero, which was premiered at the most recent edition of Valladolid’s Seminci, secured support from the Community of Madrid and the ICAA, and was made as a co-production with Movistar Plus+.

As Silence Passes By is one of the most hotly anticipated feature debuts of the coming year: during its development process, the project took part in the Script Station programme of the 2022 Berlinale and the Spanish Film Academy’s Residencies (2021/22), in addition to partaking in two labs: 2020’s CIMA Impulsa and 2022’s Film Academy Summer Campus (see the news).

The film is toplined by a trio of siblings: Antonio Araque (who appears in the soon-to-be-released Notes on a Summer [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film]) and first-timers Javier and María Araque. They are flanked by professional thesps such as the Goya-nominated Mona Martínez (seen recently in Jaula [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film]), Nicolás Montoya (Unfinished Affairs [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Juan Miguel del Castillo
scheda film]), Emmanuel Medina and Tamara Casellas (Good Manners). The movie was shot over the course of six weeks in Écija and Carmona (Sevilla), and it is now at the post-production stage.

According to the screenplay, written by Romero, in the middle of the Andalusian Easter Holy Week, 30-year-old Antonio is forced to return to Écija from Madrid, where he now lives, as his twin brother Javier needs his help. As he returns to the family home, the young man retreads the life he left behind there. What he doesn’t know yet is whether he will need to stay forever or whether he’ll be able to continue down the path he’d previously chosen.

In the director’s own words: "As Silence Passes By is a story with a tone that fluctuates between drama and the humorousness of its main characters, who usually deal with the topics that affect them the most on an emotional level with a certain light-heartedness, almost like a mask that protects them from tragedy. The idea is for this to be a portrait that starts off with the voices and points of view of its protagonists, to then evolve into a unique, complex tale through the (increasingly necessary) drama and humour that form the bedrock of this family, and which were the things that led me to connect most deeply with them,” sums up the filmmaker, who was born in Écija in 1993 and who trained at ECAM.

As Silence Passes By is a production by Mammut, Playa Chica, Icónica, Aúna Producciones and Pasa el silencio AIE, which sees the involvement of RTVE, Canal Sur and Filmin. It has secured backing from the ICAA, the Regional Government of Andalusia and the Community of Madrid. It will be distributed in Spanish movie theatres by Bteam Pictures in 2024.