in filming
This Hispanic-Puerto Rican co-production is being shot under the direction of newcomer Glorimar Marrero
The Hispanic-Puerto Rican co-production ‘La pecera’ is being shot, a drama that mixes environmental criticism and illness, under the direction of newcomer Glorimar Marrero.
The film tells the story of Noelia, a cancer patient who does not want to be treated and who decides to seek escape routes by returning to her native Vieques, a Puerto Rican paradise island, in whose waters tons of polluting waste caused by the North American army are hidden. The personal plot of this woman in search of respect for her decisions is interwoven with her involvement in a political and environmental denunciation group for the situation that the island of her maternal home is experiencing.
The plot contains a trace of reality, since in Vieques, the US Navy carried out military exercises for more than six decades, leaving residues that even today remain abandoned and keep a third of the island’s territory closed to traffic. . Today, Viequenses have a 30% higher incidence of cancer than the rest of their compatriots. ‘La Pecera’ was one of the winning projects of the MAFIZ EAVE Award at the Malaga Film Festival and won the Best Unpublished Screenplay Award at the Havana Festival. The film stars Puerto Ricans Isel Rodríguez, Magalí Carrasquillo and Maximiliano Rivas.
“I decided to locate ‘La Pecera’ on the island of Vieques because it is the manifestation of one of the worst results of the political relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States,” says Glorimar Marrero. “The history of Vieques inspired me and became the ideal natural space for this story that talks about the symptoms of the colony in the body of a Puerto Rican woman. Noelia is tired of cancer treatments and just wants her family to respect her last wishes: live her last days as she wishes and feel free.
Spanish producer José Esteban Alenda adds: «What most attracted us to ‘La Pecera’ was the intelligence of the proposal. Glorimar has been able to weave a story that, starting from a painful personal experience, such as the loss of a loved one, manages to introduce a social and, above all, political layer, which gives the film a unique dimension.
For Amaya Izquierdo, executive producer of the film, “Puerto Rican cinematographic history has nearly sixty fiction titles and only four have been directed by women. For us it is very important to strengthen this path through the Glorimar proposal».
‘La Pecera’ is Solita Films’ second international co-production with Latin America after ‘Awakening of the Ants’, by Antonella Sudasassi, which had its premiere at the Berlinale and was the first Central American film to be nominated for the Goya Awards for Best Film Iberoamerican. “At Solita Films we believe in the narrative strength of Latin American cinema, increasingly directed by women, and we want to continue building bridges so that Spain regains its place as a priority partner in these productions,” says José Esteban Alenda.
The film is a co-production of Canica (Puerto Rico) and Solita Films and Auna Producciones (Spain). The film has the support of the Tribeca Film Institute, Ibermedia, ICAA and the Madrid City Council.
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