'El Santa Isabel', first fiction feature film as director by Paula Cons

The thriller is a production by the Galician company Agallas Films ('The Unknown Battle'), in co-production with the Argentine company Aleph Cine ('The Illustrious Citizen') and the Basque company Historias del Tío Luis ('Wave of Crimes').

This week the filming of the thriller began The Santa Isabel, from the Coruña director Paula Cons and starring Nerea Barrros, Darío Grandinetti and Aitor Luna.

It is a international co-production inspired by wreck of this transatlantic steamer off the island of Sálvora in 1921 with the three heroines of the Galician “Titanic” as protagonists, after having been unjustly forgotten.

The director Paula Cons participated in the presentation of the film; the executive producer of Agallas Films, Juan de Dios Serrano; the actress Nerea Barros and the actors Darío Grandinetti and Aitor Luna; the director of the Galician Agency for Cultural Industries (AGADIC), Jacobo Sutil; the mayor of Ribeira, Manuel Ruiz, and the director of Social Projection of the CRTVG, Xaime Arias.

For the mayor of Ribeira, the film highlights the “always forgotten role of women”, it will contribute to making the heroines of the shipwreck known, as well as “consolidating this Galician municipality as a reference destination”.

The film will be shot for six weeks on the island of Sálvora (Ribeira) and in various locations in the Galician municipalities of Ribeira, Muros, O Grove, Santiago de Compostela, Arzúa and Oza dos Ríos.

Producer Juan de Dios Serrano explained that this project is the result of a collaboration between three production companies from Galicia, the Basque Country and Argentina, and assured that it is precisely these alliances that make it viable and allow the film to have such a high-level casting. In addition, he thanked the television channels for the support provided to the project, as well as the institutions of the three territories involved.

A support that in the case of AGADIC – explained Jacobo Sutil – occurred from the pre-production phase of the project and later through the line for audiovisual productions and co-productions of Galician cultural content. In the case of TVG, the regional channel also “committed to this project from the beginning,” as Xaime Arias highlighted.

The director Paula Cons joined in the thanks, and in a very special way to the more than 500 people who showed up a few weeks ago at the acting casting held in Ribeira. In relation to the film, the director took the opportunity to highlight the importance of the values ​​reflected in the film and to highlight the magnificent set that represents the island of Sálvora.

A movie shipwreck

The Santa Isabel It is inspired by the shipwreck, in 1921, of the steamship, which covered the route between Bilbao and Cádiz picking up emigrants heading to America, off the coast of the island of Sálvora with more than 260 people on board, of which only 50 managed to save their lives thanks to the actions of three young island women. This project was selected and finalist in the EGEDA/FIPCA Forum held within the framework of the Platino Awards, and to participate in the SantiagoLab Cruzando Fronteras within the framework of the SANFIC, Santiago de Chile Film Festival.

Starring Compostela native Nerea Barros (To violent season, Goya award for Best New Actress for her performance in The minimal island), Darío Grandinetti (Juliet, Red) and Aitor Luna (The notice, serie The cathedral of the sea), the cast of this film also includes the Galicians Milo Taboada, Celso Bugallo, Victoria Teijeiro, María Costas, Ana Oca, Machi Salgado and the Basques Javier Tolosa, Leyre Berrocal, among others.

The Santa Isabel It is the first fiction feature film as a director by Paula Cons, after the documentaries The unknown battle, selected for competition at Seminci 2017 in DocEspaña and winner of the Mestre Mateo of Galician audiovisuals for best documentary, and Or Diana Quer case. 500 days, with which he could win the second tomorrow, March 2.

The script is also by Paula Cons, with the collaboration of Luis Marías as co-writer. The director also has a team of top professionals such as director of photography Aitor Mantxola (The Mauthausen Photographer), art director Antonio Pereira (flour), Raquel Fidalgo (recently nominated for the Goya for the fourth time) and Eva Camino (flour) in costumes, the editor Julia Juaniz or the linguist Rosa Moledo (flour).

The film is a production of the Galician company Agallas Films (The unknown battle), in co-production with the Argentine Aleph Cine (The illustrious citizen) and the Basque Stories of Uncle Luis (crime wave).

This project was born in Galicia with the fundamental support of AGADIC and TVG, and also has the participation of the public channels RTVE and ETB, and with the support of the Basque Government, the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA) of the Government of Spain, the Argentine National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA) and the international program Ibermedia. Filmax will be responsible for its distribution.