Judith Colell’s Frontier invited to Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival
Judith Colell’s Frontier (Frontera) is selected for this year’s PÖFF Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, where it is to receive its international premiere as part of the festival’s special programme honouring Catalan films and filmmakers.
Set in 1943 and starring Miki Esparbé, Maria Rodríguez Soto, Bruna Cusí and Kevin Janssens, Frontier tells the story of a defiant civil servant who joins forces with a local villager and a French smuggler to risk everything to help refugees fleeing Nazi persecution.
Eestikeelne versioonSYNOPSIS
1943. Franco has blocked the passage of refugees fleeing Nazi repression across the Pyrenees. At the customs post of a border village, Manel Grau, a civil servant with a Republican past, decides to defy orders with the help of Juliana, a local villager and Jérôme, a French smuggler.
Together, they embark on a crusade to help as many people as possible escape the war. It is then that Manel finds himself caught in a dangerous odyssey that will awaken old ghosts from the still-recent Spanish Civil War in both himself and his wife, Mercè.
JUDITH COLELL ABOUT HER FILM
Frontier contains two elements that I am passionate about as a director. On the one hand, it is a story with a strong social commentary: the film is, at its core, a mirror of today's world. In the village where it is set, where the victors and vanquished of the Civil War live side by side, the arrival of people fleeing war, hunger and horror generates different reactions. Some want to help, others want to denounce them but most prefer to look the other way. This is exactly what is happening today with refugees and our responsibility to take them in.
On the other hand, Frontier is also a story of characters, and characters with great depth. All of them have multiple layers, contradictions and nuances. It has been a privilege to work with such a solid cast, with highly experienced and talented performers who have contributed so much to the film and enriched their roles with admirable sensitivity and dedication.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Judith Colell, born in Barcelona in 1968, holds a PhD in Communication, a degree in Art History, and a Film Certificate from NYU. She has directed such acclaimed films as Women (2001), 53 Winter Days (2007) and Elisa K (2010), earning awards at festivals like Sitges, San Sebastián and Toulouse, plus nominations for the Gaudí and Goya prizes. Her television work includes Positius, Fragmentos, and El último baile de Carmen Amaya. In 2021, she directed 15 horas, which filmed in Santo Domingo and won awards in Málaga and Marseille. Colell is President of the Catalan Film Academy, former Vice-President of the Spanish Academy and a founding member of CIMA (Association of Women in Audiovisual Media).
PÖFF TALLINN BLACK NIGHTS FESTIVAL SCREENINGS*
9 November, 16:00, Kino Artis, Saal 1
14 November, 21:00, Apollo Kino Tasku, 2. saal, TARTU
16 November, 20:30, Apollo Kino Coca-Cola Plaza, 7. saal
PRESS SCREENING*
To be confirmed
*Always check the festival website for any last-minute programme changes.
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Christian De Schutter
