Tag Archives: Matias Bize

Julio Rojas Penning His First Rom-Com Film “Detras de ti”

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Julio Rojas is bringing the romance…

The Chilean author/screenwriter, whose serial podcast Case 63 was Spotify’s most popular podcast in Latin America and was adapted into English with Julianne Moore and Oscar Isaac starring, is writing his first rom-com following the global success of Case 63.

Julio Rojas,Titled Detras de ti (working title), the upcoming project is being co-produced by Spain’s EvaFilms and David Naranjo’s Pris & Batty, best known for its hit comedies 8 apellidos vascos, 8 apellidos catalanes and Toc toc.

“Ever since I listened to ‘Case 63,’ I was very keen to work with Julio and bring his work to the big screen,” said Eva Cebrián of EvaFilms, adding: “Julio is an indisputable storyteller who has most understood the audio format, given his deep experience as a screenwriter.”

While Rojas has a predilection for sci-fi projects, Cebrián pointed out that romance was very much intrinsic to his work. Detras de ti will be a departure for Rojas, but it’s set in the near future and will still bear science-fiction elements.

Rojas is also known for co-writing Pablo Fendrik’s Latino sci-fi series The Shelter, story editing Lucia Puenzo’s La Jauria and penning a number of acclaimed features, led by Marcela Said’s The Summer of Flying Fish and Matias Bize’s The Memory of Water.

To be directed by Vicente Villanueva, Detras de ti centers on 24-year-old Joaquin, an aspiring screenwriter who while trying to land a job at a streaming platform, forms part of an “image support team,” a top secret service where a group of nerds in a control room connect visually and aurally with a celebrity to guide him through situations and make him appear more intelligent, creative and talented than he really is.

When Joaquin sees his client, B-list actor Daniel Casañas, start falling in love with the same girl he loves, the boundaries between appearance and reality begin to blur for everyone. This is “a romantic comedy in a world where the real and the artificial, where the authentic and the apparent grow increasingly muddled,” the synopsis says.

EvaFilms and Pris & Batty are also co-producing fantasy tale La Ternura, which is being shot in the Dominican Republic.

EvaFilms was founded in 2019 by Cebrián, who held executive positions at pubcaster RTVE as head of film and later, of TV programming. She also founded OnDemand Media, an audiovisual producer and consultant in Mexico and Spain, was an advisor to the digital creative agency Social Noise and was director of new projects and developments for Stage Entertainment Spain, a company that produces some of the most successful musicals in the world.

Anaya Starring in Matias Bize’s Drama “La memoria del agua”

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She may be one of Pedro Almodovar’s muses, but Elena Anaya is earning raves for her work with another Latino director.

The 40-year-old Spanish actress is starring in La memoria del agua, the latest film by Chilean director Matias Bize.

Elena Anaya in La memoria del agua

Anaya describes the film as “a dark and profound – but also marvelous – journey” addressing the experience of life and love.

Known for her work with Almodovar, Anaya praised Bize and talked about the details of filming the project, which will begin showing this week in Chile.

Anaya has acted in films like Lucia y el sexo, Van Helsing and Dead Fish, but she’s best known for starring in two of Almodovar’s most highly acclaimed works: Talk to Her and The Skin I Live In.

But Anaya is now showing off her dramatic talent opposite Chilean actor Benjamin Vicuña in La memoria del agua, the latest work by the director of The Life of Fish, which won the Goya and Buñuel awards.

Anaya plays Amanda, a young woman who, after her son’s death, experiences an emotional crisis that distances her from her partner, Javier (Vicuña).

After contacting her to propose the project, Bize traveled to Madrid to discuss the details of the story and the characters with her.

“We spent several days speaking about our experiences in life regarding the issues that we would later deal with in the film,” Anaya said. “We spoke about the script, the characters, what Matias wanted to say … Later, Benjamin joined the project and made an impression on us with his generosity in sharing his experiences.”

Vicuña’s 6-year-old daughter Blanca died in 2012 from a brain hemorrhage.

The actress also emphasized the respect that prevailed among the director, actors and crew.

Anaya said that “each viewer will feel something different” upon watching the film, “but … they will find a careful, meticulous, subtle work and perhaps will manage to make the trip along with the characters, the dark and profound – but also marvelous – journey.”