Leading Spanish production house Morena Films is teaming with A Contracorriente Films, one of Spain’s top indie distributors, and “The Beasts” French co-producer Noodle Productions to produce “Fairy Queen” (“Reina de las Hadas,” “Reina de les fades” in Catalan), a feature inspired by “Paris 70” which was shortlisted on Dec. 17 for the 97th Oscars.
A Contracorriente Films will handle theatrical distribution in Spain.
One of 15 films in the live-action short category and reckoned by Variety to be one of the category’s frontrunners, “Paris 70” is directed by Dani Feixas, a short film and doc feature helmer (“Rejovenir,” “Catalan Liverpool”). It is written by Nach Solis and Freixas, turning on Jan (Alain Hernández) as he takes care of his mother, Angela (Luisa Gavasa), who suffers from advanced Alzheimer’s disease.
Every day, his mother asks about his father. Jan’s answer plunges her into deep sadness and confusion. Exhausted and distraught at his mother’s distress, one day Jan tells her a white lie: His father is on a trip to Paris, where his parents spent their honeymoon in 1970.
Hailed by Morena Films as the most-prized Spanish short film of 2023, “Paris 70” has scored a total of 148 awards and earned 180 official international selections. It also received a Spanish Academy Goya nomination and an honorable mention at the Cleveland Film Festival, having had its international debut at Indiana’s Heartland Film Festival.
“Paris 70” has also generated an alternative circuit with over 80 screenings at Alzheimer’s associations and foundations, as well as hospitals and conferences throughout Spain.
The shortlisted short has been made available on YouTube for a limited number of days.
“It’s a highly affecting and relatable short, classic in its narrative but modern in its treatment of theme, in that the focus in these type of stories is always on the ill, in this case, an Alzheimer’s sufferer who loses their memory,” said Morena Films’ producer Pedro Uriol (“Below Zero,” “The Invisible Girl”).
“Here, however, the focus is on the carer, who could be any of us at any moment in our lives: We receive a call that our father, mother, brother, someone close needs our help and we have to put our life on standby to help this person,” he added.
Marking Feixas’ first feature, “Fairy Queen” is once more written by Solis, an inveterate young screenwriter with a building oeuvre in shorts (“Caravan: Love Moves On”) and series (the YouTube-aired “Corderos”) as well as Feixas and playwright Marta Buchaca, scribe of “Litus” from “A House on Fire” director Dani de la Orden.
“Fairy Queen” will maintain the essence of “Paris 70” but expand its universe, incorporating new characters, Morena has announced.
In it, an ambitious executive reconnects with his roots and his true self when he is forced to put his selfish life on hold and take care of his aged mother, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s.
A universal story for an adult audience who enjoyed recent successes such as ‘El 47’ and ‘A House in Flames,’” said Uriol, crucially “La reina de las hadas” will maintain the short film’s tone, which is “highly feel good, very positive, drawing parallels for its tone to Wolfgang Becker’s “Good Bye, Lenin!” and Juan José Campanella’s “Son of the Bride,” “films which move a very, very broad audience,” he added.
Uriol, A Contracorriente’s Manuel Monzón are Noodle’s Jéróme Vidal are producing “La reina de las hadas.”
Currently casting and financing and to be spoken like “Paris 70” mainly in Catalan, “Fairy Queen” has a target date to shoot in fourth quarter 2025 in Catalonia.
Variety chatted briefly with “Paris 70” and now “Fairy Queen” director Dani Feixas after the former was shortlisted for the 97th Oscars:
I sense “Paris 70” is inspired by personal experience, either yours or somebody close to the project….
Yes, my grandmother died of Alzheimer’s, and my mother was her caregiver until the end. I dedicate the short film to both of them. The screenwriter [Nach Solis], who is also a doctor, wrote the script based on real situations from his work. Additionally, I have incorporated my personal experience into the direction. I need to bring my vision and set the tone. In the short film, you can see many real elements that I observed with my grandmother.
As producer Pedro Uriol observes, what’s touching and sets apart the short is its tone, which is highly feel-good, very positive.
Pedro is absolutely right. “Paris 70” addresses Alzheimer’s in a different way than usual; it’s a positive and emotional short film, not melodramatic. The short film highlights the magical moments of connection between a son and his mother, and I believe it dignifies both the caregiver and the patients.
Very briefly, how do you expand on a short which is so careful in its pacing?
Honestly, I believe that “Paris 70” is so carefully and meticulously edited that it would be a mistake to stretch it out. What attracts me now is the opportunity to explore the universe we’ve created, especially the characters, to make a feature film inspired by “Paris 70.” Jan and Angela have a lot to tell. For me, this is very inspiring.
The feature is entitled “Reina de las Hadas” or “Reina de les fades” in Catalan or “Fairy Queen” in English. That’s a reference to?
Ah! This is a good question. The title refers to the character from the play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” that the mother portrays in the film. This character is Titania, the queen of the fairies. But I don’t want to explain too much to avoid spoilers!
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