We attend the presentation of La Trinchera Infinita in Madrid

We attend the presentation of La Trinchera Infinita in Madrid, on October 9, 2019.

The Spanish Film Academy presents this screening and seminar of the acclaimed film that participated in the 67th San Sebastian Festival.

It was nearly 4:00 pm when the public began to accommodate in their seats at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Spain. While the audience was placing itself, commenting on their expectations about the afternoon, some people began to recognise familiar faces among the crowd, such as Macarena García or Emilio Palacios (the latter, secondary actor in the film).

The film, directed by Aitor Arregi, Jon Garaño and Jose Mari Goenaga, has won four awards at the San Sebastian Festival, including best screenplay and direction.

It is not surprising that this is so, since the work comes from the directors of Loreak and Handía, along with wonderful actors such as Belén Cuesta or Antonio de la Torre.

 In this story, the directors had to transfer their characteristic Basque cinema to the Andalusian culture set in 1936, narrating the life of a man who, after the Spanish civil war, remained hidden for belonging to the losing side and because of the fear of reprisals (what is called a 'topo'), and his wife during the 33 years he was hidden. While Higinio (condemned by the Franco dictatorship, played by Antonio de la Torre) remains in the house, his wife Rosa (Belén Cuesta) is forced to bear a great responsibility, dealing with all kinds of problems so that no one discovers her husband. However, his friends and colleagues did not have the same luck and were shot. That is when the film shows us, with an extraordinary crudeness and realism, the fate of Higinio and all he had to endure to continue in this world. But, along with this, there is another problem present from the beginning: there is a sneak in the town.

The lights in the projection room go out and the disturbing silence ,with which the film starts, is heard. We will not do any spoilers, but you can all be sure that it will surprise you and fill you with an indescribable feeling full of anger, fascination, emotion and hope. In fact, the final applause seemed as infinite as that trench.

The guests, minutes after starting the round of questions. From right to left: Jon Garaño, Aitor Arregi, Belén Cuesta, Vicente Vergara, Jose Mari Goenaga and Xabier Berzosa.

After the film, the guests made their way to the table, sharing smiles of complicity. From left to right in the photo (on the far left is the interviewer), we find Xabier Berzosa (producer), Jose Mari Goenaga (co-writer and co-director), Vicente Vergara (actor), Belén Cuesta (actress), Aitor Arregi (co-director) and Jon Garaño (co-director).

The colloquium consisted of a question-answer dynamic, in which both the interviewer and the audience had the opportunity to ask some questions. Among them, how they got into the characters' mentality, directed towards Belén Cuesta: “I knew something about the story, but I didn't know it in depth. I grew up in Fuengirola and from my house and my room I can see Mijas, but I didn't know Manuel's story. I felt bad for not knowing him. (referring to Manuel Cortés, known as "the 'topo' of Mijas", which served as the initial inspiration for the film). Once the movie is being constructed, we were lucky to have time in order to prepare the character. Firstly, it is individual work (they gave us books to read, along with references), thanks to which I learned a lot by reading testimonies of 'topos' and their wives. They were unknown lives, and at the same time warriors and heroines; faithful and fighting people who are our grandmothers and great-grandmothers, and it is something very important to tell. I also learned to sew by hand, by pedal machine, I did some research ... It is the most beautiful thing this profession has. I work with them (their partners in the film) and it makes us talk a lot, ask, share opinions and have agreements between the actors. "

Vicente Vergara also spoke about this topic: “I have met families in my town who had a 'topo' and I had to work a terrible hatred [laughs] towards Antonio (the protagonist), to whom I have a lot of affection ... It is very difficult to explain, because these are things that are born from the guts and we have worked in this way, between him and me. During the rehearsals, I was only with him the first day, I told him a few things and I did not return to work with him, but with the assumption that he was there. It's like the circumstance that occurs between people who grieve: they have to see the dead, and I had not seen the dead. "

Later, Xabier Berzosa commented something about the cost, not only monetary, but real in the assembly of this work: "In Andalusia we shot outside and inside natural, then we went up to Euskadi and rolled the set, we stopped for 6 weeks and started again. Being a medium-low budget movie it is complicated, but we were finally able to make a broader technical and artistic team with a co-producer from Andalusia, who was already our friend. In fact, we went sometimes with him to the fair [laughs] ".

During the colloquium, it was also mentioned the importance of tragicomic scenes, since they wanted them to be present, as they naturally arise in a dramatic situation. And something that caused a lot of curiosity among the audience was the progressive change and evolution of Higinio, as he starts with claustrophobia and ends with agoraphobia. In addition, this film constitutes, along with other films released in recent years, such as El silencio de otros, Sordo or Mientras dure la guerra, a reflection on the era and the regime during Franco times.

To sum up, the film is a true masterpiece of Spanish cinema that shows us, once again, how we can find good films without having to travel to Hollywood. Without any doubt, we wish the best to this great team and we are sure that they will go far, far away. Until then, our beloved readers, do not forget to go see this wonderful work if you want to get as moved as we had got on October 9.

 Jose Mari Goenaga, Vicente Vergara and Belén Cuesta, listening to the interviewer

 Aitor Arregi and Jon Garaño during the event

The interviewer formulates questions to Xabier Berzosa and Jose Mari Goenaga