24/04/2008

Shooting is currently underway in Barcelona on two films by two directors who share the same name but have vastly different levels of experience as filmmakers.

The first, Ventura Pons – a major figure in Spanish and Catalan cinema – is filming his twentieth feature, Forasters, while the other, Ventura Durall, is in the midst of making his debut feature, Las dos vidas de Andrés Rabadán (“The Two Lives of Andrés Rabadán”).

Pons’ new film is adapted from a play by Sergi Belbel, whose work also inspired Caresses (1997) and To Die (Or Not) (1999).

Forasters is produced by Pons for his company Els Films de la Rambla and will be shot in Catalan. The film tells the story of a family who have suffered two traumatic events separated by a period of 40 years. Their apparent tranquillity is disturbed by the arrival of new neighbours.

The cast is headed by Anna Lizaràn, who has appeared in several of Pons’ films (What’s It All About, Actresses and To Die (Or Not)), and Joan Pera, a well-known television actor here making his big-screen debut.

Durall’s film – produced by Nanouk Films and Mencheta Benet – is based on the real-life story of Andrés Rabadán, who hit newspaper headlines in 1994 when he murdered his father with a crossbow.

Fascinated by Rabadán’s ambiguous personality and prolific creativity (whilst in prison he published several books and produced countless paintings), Durall developed a relationship with him. This led to the making of a documentary which served as the basis for Durall’s debut feature.

Starring Alex Brendemühl in the role of Rabadán, the film is an intimate drama about the different shades of the protagonist’s personality.

(Translated from Spanish)