Alberto San Juan stars in Balenciaga
- This series on the life of the famous Basque fashion designer, produced by Disney+ and directed by the trio of José Mari Goenaga, Jon Garaño and Aitor Arregi, is currently being filmed
Alberto San Juan – an actor who won two Goyas for Bajo las estrellas [+see also:
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film profile] (in 2008) and The People Upstairs [+see also:
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interview: Cesc Gay
film profile] (2021), who presented El test at the last Malaga film festival and will premiere Álex de la Iglesia's BlaBlaCar (final title of El cuarto pasajero – read more) on 28 October – is now stepping into the shoes of one of the most famous fashion designers of all time in Balenciaga (working title), the Disney+ original series that is currently being filmed in different locations in France and Spain. According to the actor, "participating in this project is a luxury: for the character, for the scripts, for the directors and for the team overall. It is a challenge for everyone. As always, but a little more. It is like shooting three films in four months, in several languages and with a time span of several decades. In short: A dream!”
Because the series is directed by the creators of such sensitive films as Flowers [+see also:
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interview: Aitor Arregi and Jon Garaño
film profile] (winner of ten Goyas 2018) and The Endless Trench [+see also:
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interview: Aitor Arregi, Jon Garaño an…
film profile] (two Goyas in 2020): Jose Mari Goenaga, Jon Garaño and Aitor Arregi, screenwriters join together with Lourdes Iglesias, screenwriter of films such as Agustí Villaronga's 99.9 and Imanol Uribe's Extraños. The six episodes, each about 50 minutes long, portray an enigmatic and extraordinarily talented man, born in Getaria (where his museum can be found today) in 1895, who defied the social conventions of the time and revolutionised the world of haute couture.
"As soon as Alberto came for the screen test, we knew we had found our Cristóbal Balenciaga. We’re very proud to have him because he is fully committed and involved in the project. He is the real star, present in almost every scene and playing a fashion designer, which involves learning how to sew or alter a fabric," says the trio of filmmakers.
The action of this ambitious historical and biographical series takes place from the Spanish Civil War to the early 1970s (the designer died in 1972) and will be filmed over 18 weeks on a hundred or so sets in the Basque Country, Navarre, Madrid, Paris, Bordeaux and Toulouse. It tells the story of a man who, through his natural talent, perseverance and business acumen, dared to challenge his social status as the son of a seamstress and a fisherman, becoming one of the most important designers of all time, dressing aristocrats, kings and stars such as Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn. Ultimately, it is a portrait of the search for identity in the face of adversity and the defiance of social conventions.
The series is produced by Cristóbal La Serie S.L. in collaboration with Moriarti Produkzioak and Irusoin for Disney+.
(Translated from Spanish by Vicky York)
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