Filming
Directed by Sergio Dow and starring, among others, Richard Armitage, Amaia Salamanca, Fionnula Flanagan and Paul Guilfoyle, it is filming in iconic locations in cities such as Seville, Madrid and Rome.
The film adaptation of the novel ‘La Piel del Tambor’, one of Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s first literary successes, is being shot in iconic locations in cities such as Seville, Madrid and Rome. This adaptation is directed by Sergio Dow, and has an international cast made up of such prominent names as Richard Armitage, Amaia Salamanca, Fionnula Flanagan, Paul Guilfoyle, Rodolfo Sancho, Paul Freeman, Alicia Borrachero and Unax Ugalde. The film, which combines mystery, thriller and love in a story about faith, what its meaning is, how it is put to the test, lost and renewed, is scheduled for its international premiere both in theaters in Europe and America as well as in international digital platforms, by 2022.
In front of a ruined church in Seville, the priest Urbizu stops to invoke God’s help. A piece of ledge falls suddenly, ending his life immediately. Far from there, in the Vatican, a computer hacker leaves an unexpected message on the Pope’s personal computer in which he assures that the Church of Our Lady of Tears kills to defend itself. Intrigued, the Holy Father orders the Secretaria di Affari Esteri to investigate and avoid the scandal. Its director, Monsignor Spada (Paul Guilfoyle), will assign the mission to his best agent, the priest Quart (Richard Armitage), young, elegant, intelligent and possessed of a long experience in the dark affairs of the Holy See. Meanwhile, in Seville, the aristocrat Macarena Bruner (Amaia Salamanca), a beautiful divorcee who owns the rights to the land where Our Lady of Tears stands, scandalizes the city with her inappropriate love affairs with a flamenco dancer, while he flirts around Seville and is a leading part of a group that refuses to let the Church be demolished. Prominent members of that group are the parish priest, Father Príamo Ferro (Paul Freeman), an elderly priest in urgent need of protection from his past; the architect Gris Marsala (Alicia Borrachero), an American nun whose role in the death of the priest Urbizu, and two others who will become known later, nobody suspects; Macarena’s mother, the 60-year-old Duchess Cruz Bruner (Fionnula Flanagan) whose harmless and sweet appearance confuses her true profession; and Father Oscar Lobato, a perfect example of the inexperienced person who finds himself in the wrong corner at the wrong time.
Vatican City or the Plaza de España in Seville are some of the places where ‘The skin of the drum’ is set, an ambitious co-production between Spain, Colombia and Italy, shot in English and with Richard Armitage as Quart, its protagonist . Armitage has starred in series such as ‘Robin Hood’ or ‘Strike Back’, as well as Peter Jackson’s trilogy based on the novel ‘The Hobbit’ by JRR Tolkien.
‘The skin of the drum’ marks the return of Pérez-Reverte’s work to the big screen after other hits such as ‘The queen of the south’, ‘The fencing master’, ‘The spherical letter’, ‘Comanche territory’, and especially ‘Alatriste’, which broke box office records. Colombian Sergio Down, producer and director of more than a hundred works, has worked in all kinds of genres: documentary, comedy, drama or action. His work ‘The day you love me’ (1986) obtained a great reception, rising with such outstanding recognitions as the Casa de las Américas Award at the Havana Festival or the Gold Hugo for best film at the Chicago International Festival, in addition to multiple selections in competitions such as Sundance, Rio de Janeiro or Miami.
This adaptation, which is now starting its filming, is produced by Piel del tambor AIE (Enrique Cerezo PC), Fundación Enic Producciones and Augusto Color SRL with the participation of TVE, Amazon Prime Video and funding from ICAA, and is supported by Enrique Cerezo PC.
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