Petra
Jaime Rosales
2018
Synopsis
Petra doesn’t know who her father is. Her entire life, it’s been hidden from her. After the death of her mother, she embarks on a search that leads her to Jaume, a famous artist and a powerful, ruthless man. On her path to uncovering the truth, Petra also meets Jaume’s son, Lucas, as well as Marisa, his mother and Jaume’s wife. That is when the story of these characters begins to intertwine in a spiral of malice, family secrets and violence that drives them all to the edge.
But fate’s cruel logic is derailed by a twist that opens a path to hope and redemption.
TECHNICAL DATA
Original title: PETRA
Year: 2018
Director: Jaime Rosales
Production countries: Spain, France and Denmark
Format: 35mm (1:2’39), Dolby Digital 5.1, color
Length: 107 min
Language: Spanish and catalan
Shooting Locations: Madrid and north of Girona
Production Companies:
Fresdeval Films (España)
Wanda Vision (España)
Oberon Cinematográfica (España)
Les Productions Balthazar (Francia)
Snowglobe (Dinamarca)
With the participation of:
RTVE (Televisión Española)
EURIMAGES
TVC (Televisió de Catalunya)
Movistar +
ICAA (Ministerio de Cultura)
ICEC (Generalitat de Catalunya)
CNC (Cinema de Monde)
French Institute
DFI (Danish Film Institute)
International Sales: Film Factory
Spanish distributor: Wanda Vision
WORLD PREMIERE
Director’s Fornight – Cannes 2018
SPANISH PREMIERE
October 18th, 2018
2018
La Quinzaine des Réalisateurs
Geneva Quinzaine Repetition Screenings
Rome Quinzaine Repetition Screenings
Florence Quinzaine Repetition Screenings
Munich International Film Festival
New Zealand International Film Festival
New Horizons International Film Festival
Festival Cine Ceara: Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor (Joan Botey), Critic’s Award.
Helsinki International Film Festival
San Sebastian International Film Festival
Haifa Film Festival
Bergen International Film Festival
Vancouver International Film Festival
Festival Cine Fine Arts: Best Actress (Barbará Lennie)
BFI London Film Festival
Miami GEMS Film Festival
Bogota International Film Festival
Thessaloniki International Film Festival
Lakino Film Festival
Ljubljana International Film Festival
Miami Recent Cinema from Spain Scanorama
Zagreb Film Festival
International Film Festival of India, Goa
Cairo International Film Festivak
Festival Cine Fine Arts Costa Rica
La Habana Film Festival
2019
Goteborg International Film Festival
Guadalajara International Film Festival: Best Director, Best Actress (Bárbara Lennie)
Prague International Film Festival – Febiofest
¡Viva! Spanish & LatinAmerican Film Festival
Istanbul Film Festival
¡Viva! Tour Watershed (Bristol)
¡Viva! Tour Broadway (Nottingham)
Spanish Film Festival – Palace Cinema
Uruguay International Film Festival
Ankara International Film Festival
¡Viva! Tour QUAD (Derby)
Crossing Europe Film Festival
Babylon – Spanish Showcase
¡Viva! Tour GFT
Jeonju International Film Festival
¡Viva! Tour Showroom (Sheffield)
¡Viva! Tour Phoenix Exeter
¡Viva! Tour Storyhouse (Chester)
¡Viva! Tour The Northern Light Cinema (Matlock)
Spanish Cinema Now AFI
¡Viva! Tour Eden Court (Inverness)
London Spanish Film Festival
Gent International Film Festival
Ciclo de Cine español en Seul
2020
Spanish Film Week in Budapest
PETRA: Bárbara Lennie
LUCAS: Alex Brendemühl
JAUME: Joan Botey
MARISA: Marisa Paredes
JULIA: Petra Martínez
TERESA: Carmen Pla
PAU: Oriol Pla
JUANJO: Chema Del Barco
MARTHA: Natalie Madueño
Director: Jaime Rosales
Creative Producer: Bárbara Díez
Screenplay: Jaime Rosales, Michel Gaztambide, Clara Roquet
Composer: Kristian Selin Eidnes Andersen
Director of Photography: Hélène Louvart
Line Producer: Bárbara Díez
Art Director: Victoria Paz Álvarez
Editor: Lucía Casal
Sound Design & Sound Mix: Carlos E. García
Sound Recordist: Nicolás Tsabertidis
Costume Designer: Iratxe Sanz
Make-up: Chicha Blanco
Casting: Sara Bilbatúa, María Rodrigo
First AD: Àlex Vilà
Producers: Bárbara Díez, José María Morales, Antonio Chavarrías, Jérôme Dopffer, Katrin Pors, Mikkel Jersin, Eva Jakobsen
Associate Producers: Miguel Morales, Àngels Masclans
OFICIAL TRAILER
"On her path to uncovering the truth... the story of these characters begins to intertwine in a spiral of malice, family secrets and violence."
Director's notes
Jaime Rosales
Surprise is the sap that feeds dramatic interest.
Petra is a film that grew out of the need to reach out larger audiences after several years making my own films in which something was missing. My first two films, Las horas del día and La soledad, were released in theatres in the first decade of the new millennium. It was a time of great enthusiasm and even euphoria, just before the great crisis of the second decade. My film Sueño y silencio (2012) was a bit of a swan song. At least, it was for me. With it– my fourth film– I ended a period as a filmmaker. Hermosa juventud was rather like starting over. Petra has been a further step along that new road.
Before I began to design the film, I had to go back to school. The best film school consists of films and books about cinema. Once again, I read the books and saw the films that marked my years of training. I went back to the classics and modern classics.
Film viewers want to have a good time. They want to be thrilled and moved. They want to be surprised. Surprise is the sap that feeds dramatic interest. The whole process consisted of creating a work that brought together attractive attributes. With Michel Gaztambide and Clara Roquet, co-writers of the screenplay, we went back to the classics. Aristotle was our beacon: “Everything must be surprising and necessary”.
Everything has been conceived to invite viewers to really get inside the film and travel with it.
The journey is an inner one. Toward the interior of the characters and the viewers.
There is more than one theme to Petra. Each viewer will define the themes for themselves. But identity is important.
As are fate and the conflict between good and evil. A tragic vein runs through the entire plot.
If I had to summarize the subject of Petra, I would say it is a film about search and redemption.
More than any of my previous films, Petra has been the result of a very participatory collective process. A central role was played by Bárbara Díez, the producer of the film and my partner in Fresdeval Films. She and I initiated the project and were joined quite generously by José María Morales, Antonio Chavarrías, Jérôme Dopffer and Katrin Pors. Their contributions enhanced the quality of the film. Thanks to them, we worked with an exceptional crew of Spaniards, French and Danes. It was wonderful to work with Hélène Louvart as DOP and with Kristian Eidnes Andersen for music composition.
The cast, headed by Bárbara Lennie and Alex Brendemühl, understood perfectly the contained acting style I wanted.
Combining internationally renowned actors like Marisa Paredes with natural actors like Joan Botey was one of the greatest challenges of the film.
PICTURES: Quim Vives, Rolf Konow