Tag Archives: Benjamin Vicuña

Alfredo Castro to Star in the Spanish-Language Horror Series “Allegados”

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Alfredo Castro’s latest project has arrived…

The 69-year-old Chilean actor will and compatriots Paulina García and Benjamín Vicuña will star in the upcoming horror series by author-screenwriter Ernesto Garratt, who has adapted his own book Allegados for an 8-episode series

Alfredo CastroNew project makes its market debut at the Santiago International Film Festival’s Sanfic Industria Series LAB, where it is open to sealing potential co-production and distribution deals.

Titled The Unwelcome in English, Allegados is the first book of a trilogy which will be adapted into three seasons, said producer Claudia Pérez-Muñoz of By LACE Films, the Santiago-based company she founded a year ago.  The scripts for Season 2, based on the second novel, are also done, she added.

She has also signed on Yagán Films Chile for the series’ post-production in sound while image post-production will be performed by Chemistry, México led by Andrés Martínez-Ríos who has been invited to direct a few episodes.

“This will mark my return to directing,” he told Variety, noting that the last series he helmed, “Los betas,” was some 10 years ago. He also directed shorts, commercials, and music videos in the past.  He joins Oscar Chamo Godoy, who has worked on Pablo Larrain’s “The Count” and “The Club” as a First AD, and María José San Martín (“Rara”) who will also direct a few episodes each.

“When Ernesto came to me with his project, I immediately jumped on it,” said Pérez-Muñoz who had already read the trilogy.

Set in 1980s Chile, it follows a 16-year-old boy and his sickly mother, played by García, who copes with his troubled home life by writing and drawing a vampire story in his school notebook. They live with his abusive uncle (Castro) and his family who treat them with increasing disdain. They are allegados – guests without a home of their own – who quietly try to stay unnoticed, make no noise and take up as little space as possible. Vicuña plays the prophetic vampire who emerges from the teen’s drawing.

The series is set to shoot in the second half of 2026. “As a director, writer and film critic with years of experience and interviews behind me, I have always wanted to adapt my novel ‘Allegados‘ for the screen – bringing together Latin American sensibilities and popular culture,” said Garratt, adding that he aims to challenge the elitist perception of Chilean cinema by creating more engaging and grounded narratives that weave in elements of magical realism and fantasy.

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.”