– The production between Allegra Films, Animalita Films and Exit Media is conceived as a sensory journey exploring uprooting, heritage, grief, memory and exile
Angélica Castelló in Far from the Trees
Meritxell Colell has completed filming her third feature film, Far from the Trees, which follows Adela, a Mexican artist and granddaughter of Catalan exiles, who travels to Peru to continue her grandfather’s legacy of creating a sound map of endangered languages. Conceived as a sensory journey that confronts the wounds of exile, the film — by the director of Facing the Wind [+see also:
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Newcomers Angélica Castelló and José Luís López Cama lead the cast, joined by Teresita Sánchez (Tótem, Moscas) and Ainet Jounou (Alcarràs [+see also:
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film profile]). The film also highlights the bond between Spain and Mexico through family-archive footage, along with audiovisual recordings of the arrival in the port of Veracruz of ships carrying the children of Republican exiles who fled Spain with the support of President Lázaro Cárdenas.
“Far from the Trees speaks of the complexity of heritage and the pain of uprooting, of identities marked by exile and of mourning as a form of liberation. It is a story full of stories, like a tapestry, woven with links and connections between the present and the past — a way of talking about the need to reconnect with one’s roots, the importance of transmission and the fragility of memory,” explains Colell. The title pays tribute to one of the director’s major influences, the late filmmaker Jacinto Esteva, whose 1966 debut film bears the same name and who was one of the founders of the Barcelona Film School.
The film was shot in both digital and 16 mm formats to bring the protagonist’s memories and dreams to life. For these sequences, Colell collaborated with Barcelona-based botanical artist Paula Bruna and Peruvian multimedia creator Cecilia Paredes. The lead actress, Angélica Castelló, a Mexican electronic composer and sound artist, also composed the soundtrack.
As a project, Far from the Trees has been developed in collaboration with producer Mayca Sanz L-Higueras (from Allegra Films) through programmes such as Ikusmira Berriak (San Sebastián Film Festival), Berlinale Talents, MIA Market in Rome and MECAS (Las Palmas Film Festival), among others. “It is Meritxell Colell’s most ambitious and personal film, and we wanted to make it possible. Her way of filming personal relationships is overwhelming; she creates a unique and deeply moving dialogue between memory and the present,” says the producer.
Far from the Trees is a co-production between Allegra Films (Spain), Animalita Films (Peru) and Exit Media (Italy), with the participation of RTVE and the support of the ICAA, ICEC and Ibermedia.
(Translated from Spanish)
