“As an assistant director, I developed an understanding of the emotional atmosphere on set, and that makes me freer in my approach”
– The filmmaker tells us what he learned from working with other Spanish directors and breaks down his experience of making a movie with child actors
(© Miguel Ángel García)
Evil Dress, a new Spanish horror flick and the second collaboration between director Jacob Santana and actress Belén Rueda, celebrated its international premiere at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival. Cineuropa spoke to Santana about what he learned from working with other Spanish directors, his experience of working with child actors and his reasons for choosing a New England-esque setting for his horror film, rather than Spain.
Cineuropa: Before you started directing films independently, you had worked as an assistant director for more than 20 years. How would you say your approach differs from that of someone who studied directing at film school?
Jacob Santana: I worked my way up from the bottom, starting out as an assistant director [AD]. During my almost 25 years as an AD, I had the opportunity to learn from many directors about their working styles, as well as the tools they use when communicating with actors. For example, I learnt how to work with scents. Among others, I worked with Pedro Almodóvar and Álex de la Iglesia. I would say that this practical experience has made me more flexible in my approach. People who make their first movie after film school often struggle to read the atmosphere on set. There are many egos and different personalities involved in the production of a film, and that can be complicated. I developed an understanding of the emotional atmosphere on set early on. This gives me more freedom but also more control, because I can communicate easily with everyone on set.
Can you name one specific thing you learned from one of the directors you worked with?
From Jaime Chávarri, for example, I learned to always be where the action is. Instead of going off for a break, I watch the sequence right next to the camera, so I can be there at the exact moment things happen. I paid close attention to Álex de la Iglesia’s flexibility and the way he planned sequences. Every director is unique, and I believe you can learn from every experience.
Vera Centenera, who plays Carla, was around 13 years old when the filming of Evil Dress began. How did you prepare her for such a challenging role?
The most important aspect is Vera’s eyes. She has to shift from being a normal teenager to taking care of her mother and becoming the adult in the room, and she conveys much of this through her eyes. Vera had to do a great deal of internal work. She prepared with Belén Rueda. Belén asked Vera to pause for three seconds before every reply, and the actresses would mirror each other to a certain extent. The mother would shift between being the mother and the daughter at times, and vice versa.
The setting of the film doesn’t seem particularly Spanish. The house could be located somewhere in New England or Ireland. Was that a conscious choice?
Absolutely. We wanted to make the film location-agnostic, so it could be set in any country and feel timeless. This aesthetic runs like a common thread through the entire film, from the vintage car to the clothes worn by the characters. It adds to the dark atmosphere because something feels off: the house does not feel like a refuge, but rather cold and hostile, both inside and out. This contributes to the claustrophobic atmosphere that is essential to horror films. I was influenced by horror films such as The Conjuring and It Follows. But I also really liked Who Can Kill a Child?, a 1976 horror flick by Narciso Ibáñez Serrador. Although the film is set in a sunny environment, a sense of horror is omnipresent.
Carla is trying to lose weight so that she can fit into the dress. She even throws her school lunch away. Could this be a reference to the development of eating disorders?
Good observation. I wanted to show how difficulties in communicating with one’s parents – in this case, the mother – affect young girls’ emotional development. The teenage years are a difficult period for children, especially for girls.
