Pablo Maqueda shoots ‘The unknown’, which investigates about the harassment of minors on the Internet
Since last October 27, ‘The unknown’ has been filmed in Madrid, in which Manolo Solo and Laia Manzanares (‘The kingdom’) make up an unusual couple that reflects the face and cross of relationships over the Internet. Directed by Pablo Maqueda (‘Dear Werner. Walking on cinema’), who after the capital will continue a shoot in Albacete that takes place at the end of October and throughout November. The cast is completed by Eva Llorach and Blanca Parés. The film is based on the play by Paco Bezerra, ‘Grooming’, and has a script by Maqueda himself, Haizea G. Viana and the author Paco Bezerra.
The film, which is based on the play by Paco Bezerra, ‘Grooming’, investigates the harassment of minors through the Internet, with a final surprise that should not be revealed. Carolina (Laia Manzanares) is a naive and charming young woman who meets Leo (Manolo Solo) through a chat. He is an adult man who has posed as a 16-year-old boy and deceiving her, he has managed to meet her in a secluded park in the city. But as Leo meets Carolina he begins to suspect that perhaps she is not as innocent and harmless as she appears.
According to Maqueda, ‘The unknown’ arises from three wishes: “The first, to bring to the big screen the emotion that I felt when being caught by a world-acclaimed Spanish play, performed in more than ten countries. The second, the ability to address through the camera, a completely unexplored and necessary theme to make visible in our cinema: the harassment of minors through the internet. And finally, to continue with my goal as a storyteller since I began to tell stories: to provide our cinema with important female characters, with a dramatic depth at the height of their plots ».
Pablo Maqueda and the actors Laia Manzanares and Manolo Solo on the set of ‘The unknown’.
Maqueda adds that “we all have secrets. Dark wishes that could scare our environment. With ‘The unknown’ I want to enter them, into the unknown, into the most terrible darkness that anyone we meet on the street could hide. Being able to create a complex character like ‘the stranger’ has been a real challenge, and telling this story with Laia and Manolo is a wish come true ». Maqueda has extensive experience in film, but above all as a producer. He subsequently made his directorial debut with the documentary ‘Dear Werner’ a year ago, and this stage play adaptation is his first fiction film.
If Laia Manzanares is almost a newcomer, the Andalusian Manolo Solo has become a frequent face of Spanish cinema and series in recent years, with titles such as’ Wild Sunflowers’, ‘Counting sheep’, ‘Full of Grace’ and ‘ La Fortaleza ‘, only in the last year. Before, we saw it in Alex de la Iglesia’s series ’30 coins’, in ‘La zona’ and ‘La peste’. Two months ago he premiered ‘Sevillanas de Brooklyn’ and is currently broadcasting Alejandro Amenábar’s series ‘La Fortuna’. He has become one of the essential secondary characters of our cinema that with ‘The Unknown’ accesses his first main character.
The film is a production of Fórmula Cine AIE and ELAMEDIA and has the support of Telemadrid and Castilla La Mancha television. It will be distributed by Filmax in 2022
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