Filmmakers such as Paco Plaza, Guy Ritchie and Jordi Núñez have chosen to shoot their latest productions in this region, where the Ciudad de la Luz studios have also been brought back into operation
What We Know by Jordi Núñez, shot in Valencia
The new films shot in the Valencian region bring together experience, freshness and genres: from horror to thrillers, family dramas, coming-of-age and comedies, directed by renowned filmmakers, but also exciting newcomers.
For example, the Valencian filmmaker Paco Plaza had never shot in the region before, having filmed The Grandmother [+] in Madrid and Paris, and his previous Eye for an Eye [+] in Galicia. However, for his latest film he has chosen to shoot in the Sant Jeroni de Cotalba Monastery, in the town of Alfahuir, which has been converted into a girls’ school where the story of his second character in his Verónica [+] (2017) has been recreated. The title is Hermana muerte, and its main actresses, Almudena Amor and Maru Valdivielso (read more).
The British director Guy Ritchie also filmed his new thriller The Interpreter in locations around the province of Alicante, such as Sax, Novelda and Petrer. Californian Jake Gyllenhaal stars in this feature film about a soldier who offers to help an interpreter who saved him in the war in Afghanistan.
And from renowned filmmakers to newcomers: Jordi Núñez opened the Mostra de Valencia festival with a story called What We Know [+], which will be released in Spanish cinemas on 25 November, distributed by #ConUnPack. The region of Horta Sud is one of the stars of this journey to maturity of a girl who is facing love for the first time.
The short filmmakers Marisa Crespo and Moisés Romera have also chosen the region to shoot their debut film Tú no eres yo, which combines family drama with thriller and irony. Another filmmaker who has recently finished shooting her debut in Valencia is Elena Escura. Sierra de Irta, Alcalá de Xivert, Marines Viejo and Valencia are just some of the locations where Les vacances de Mara was filmed, which tells the story of a search for and discovery of identity.
Finally, Óscar Montón debuts his feature film Quan no acaba la nit, which follows a group of young Valencians at the end of the 1980s, during the famous “Bakalao Route” clubbing movement.
The Ciudad de la Luz has now been added to the diverse locations available in the Valencia region. The last San Sebastian film festival officially presented the reopening of the Alicante film complex where, in the past, hits such as Juan Antonio Bayona’s The Impossible [+] (2012) were filmed. These studios boast more than 14 hectares and 11,200 square metres of workshops and warehouses: it is hoped that the relaunch will boost filming in the region and put the complex back on the map as a European film destination.
