Long Distance lands in the USA – in a big way
- After having triumphed at the Goyas, Málaga and other festivals the world over, Carlos Marques-Marcet’s film hits screens in the States this Friday, a feat that few Spanish films have achieved
Today, Thursday 9 July, the premiere of Long Distance [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carlos Marques-Marcet
film profile], the debut film by Catalan director Carlos Marques-Marcet, will take place at the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) in New York. Ever since it screened at the Málaga Spanish Film Festival in 2014 (where it snagged five major awards – read the news), it has not ceased to make the outfits that were behind it – producer/distributor Avalon, Lastor Media and LA Panda (a group of Spanish filmmakers established in Los Angeles) – extremely happy: it won the Goya for Best New Director in 2014, as well as other trophies at festivals on a number of different continents, and tomorrow it is being released in 13 cities in the USA, with high expectations and some hefty marketing to back it up.
Distributed (in theatres as well as on VoD) by Broadgreen Pictures (a producer and sales agent that also boasts a catalogue brimming with other European titles such as Eden [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Charles Gillibert
interview: Mia Hansen-Løve
film profile] and Samba [+see also:
trailer
film profile], and which is showing a lot of interest in Marques-Marcet’s next project), the movie will attempt to capitalise on the highly positive impression that it left at gatherings in the States, such as South by Southwest and the Seattle International Film Festival, and hopes to repeat the commercial success it achieved in cinemas in France, Poland, Greece, Hong Kong, the Netherlands and Scandinavia.
When Cineuropa spoke to Sergi Moreno, of Lastor Media, the producer told us: “For us, this American release represents rock-solid proof that we have a great film that is capable of making the critics, the industry and the general public all agree with each other, in Europe as well as in the United States. We are very happy for Carlos, since we always believed he was an incredibly talented director. But we’re also happy because we are showing that Spanish films can rival those of any other country. It has given us a big shot of confidence and represents support for us as well as for the management teams, television channels and institutions that believed in the project right from the start.”
(Translated from Spanish)
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