Celebrated Argentinian filmmaker Victoria Galardi returns to the San Sebastian Film Festival with her latest film in development, “The Hedgehogs” (“Los Erizos”), participating in the co-production forum of the prominent Spanish film event.
Her drama “Cerro Bayo” competed in San Sebastian in 2010, where it won the TVE-Otra Mirada Award. In 2008, ‘Lovely Loneliness’, which Galardi co-directed with Martin Carranza, competed for the hefty cash prize in the Zabaltegi New Directors section of the festival and won a Youth Jury Award. Her 2013 photo, “I Thought it was a Party,” was nominated by the Argentine Academy for best editing, best cinematography and best production design.
Co-written by Galardi and Fabian Casas, ‘The Hedgehogs’ centers on a couple who decide to separate after ten years of marriage. To tell their son the news, they plan one last family outing to the sea. They arrive in an off-season coastal town, greeted by the caretaker, his dog Rita, and a couple who evoke a lost youthful bond.
As they enjoy beach games, meals and quiet arguments, the weight of their upcoming conversation with their son hangs over them. When Rita goes missing and a storm approaches, their search for her becomes symbolic of their fear – not only for the dog, but also for the end of their love. the synopsis is running.
The cast is led by Esteban Bigliardi, Pilar Gamboa and Laura Paredes.
“It seems interesting to me to portray the contradiction of taking a family trip to a place where they wanted to end the separation, as if the memories of a life together were necessary to announce its end,” Galardi said, and added: “And to also show the difficulty the couple faces in making and carrying out that decision: how painful it is to part, how long it takes to unravel the bond that two connecting people for years.”
Drama is produced by Argentina’s Tarea Fina, founded in 2009 by Juan Pablo Miller to make both fiction and documentary films. Credits include Cannes 2011 Golden Camera winner ‘Las Acacias’, ‘La luz incidente’, ‘Los Sonámbulos’, ‘Ciencias Naturales’, ‘Alemania’ and ‘El llanto’. “Las Acacias” won the Cannes Camera d’Or for best first feature.
The Uruguayan Cinekdoque, founded by acclaimed filmmaker Federico Veiroj (“La vida util”, “Acne”), co-produces. Miller, Veiroj and Marcela Avalos serve as producers on the family drama, which will film in March and April of next year.
The 72nd San Sebastian Film Festival takes place from September 20 to 28.