email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

PRODUCTION Spain / Mexico

Lluís Miñarro wraps the shoot for Love Me Not

by 

- The Catalan producer, who made his fiction directorial debut with Falling Star, is finishing off another fiction feature, which is now in post-production

Lluís Miñarro wraps the shoot for Love Me Not
Actress Ingrid García-Jonsson during the shoot for Love Me Not (© Jorge Franco)

Based on Salome by Oscar WildeLove Me Not [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lluís Miñarro
film profile
]
, the screenplay for which was written by its director, Lluís Miñarro (who previously helmed films such as Falling Star [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Luis Miñarro ­
film profile
]
 and the documentary Familystrip [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, as well as producing titles such as The Inner Jungle [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juan Barrero
film profile
]
 and Les Unwanted de Europa [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, among countless others), together with Sergi Belbel (Eva [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
), revisits the titular biblical myth and brings it bang up to date. The action unfolds in a foreign army detachment and portrays the love story between Salome and Yokanaan, but it also calls attention to the sheer brutality inherent in any war.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

The shoot started in Cardona, in the province of Barcelona, and subsequently shifted to Mexico – first to the Chihuahuan Desert, and later to the country’s capital city. Principal photography wrapped on 15 June. The film is now in the middle of post-production, and the aim is to have it ready in 2019 and for it to take part in various film festivals prior to its theatrical release.

The movie’s characters will be played by Ingrid García-JonssonFrancesc OrellaLola DueñasÓliver LaxeLuis AlbertiFausto AlzatiHugo CatalánLu Colomina and Gabriel Ventura. “The idea came about as a response to the brutality of Abu Ghraib during the Iraq War,” remarked the filmmaker, who is using this setting as a “metaphor in order to get to the crux of the matter: the fact that repression breeds monsters”.

Divided into two parts, the film begins in 2006 and follows a military detachment in the Middle East, while the rest of the story takes place in the present day. Salome (García-Jonsson), a solider in this particular army, crosses paths with Yokanaan (Laxe), a prisoner locked up in a high-security jail, and considered a terrorist by some people and a prophet by others. The desert where the action unfolds turns into an ambiguous theatre where seduction, eroticism and violence intertwine.

Love Me Not (No m’estimis in its original Catalan title), which boasts cinematography by Santiago Racaj (Can’t Say Goodbye [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lino Escalera
film profile
]
), is a production by Lluís Miñarro and Piano Producciones Cinematográficas (Mexico), in cooperation with TVC, and with backing from ICEC (the Catalan Institute for Cultural Companies) and EFICINE. Its Spanish distribution will be handled by Eddie Saeta from spring 2019 onwards, and its international sales are managed by French sales agent Reel Suspects.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

(Translated from Spanish)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy