SPAIN, BULGARIA

VASIL

2022 – DCP – colore – 93’

Direction: Avelina Prat

Screenplay: Avelina Prat

Cinematography: Santiago Racaj

Editing: Juliana Montañés

Set design: Mónica Bernuy

Music: Vincent Barrière

Costumes: Giovanna Ribes

Cast: Karra Elejalde (Alfredo), Ivan Barnev (Vasil), Alexandra Jiménez (Luisa), Sue Flack (Maureen), Susi Sánchez (Carmen) 

Producer: Miriam Porté in coproduzione con in coproduction with Vesela Kazakova, Mina Mileva

Production: Distinto Films (Es), Activist38 (Bg), RTVE – Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española (Es), Televisió de Catalunya – TV3 (Es), Diferente Films AIE (Es)

World Sales: Filmax

synopsis

Maureen turns to an old friend, Alfredo, to see if he can put Vasil, a Bulgarian immigrant, up in his home. And he accepts. What was supposed to be a temporary arrangement lasting just a few days soon turns into months. The differences between Alfredo and Vasil are obvious: a retired man who’s set in his ways and a bohemian spirit who makes his living however he can. The only thing the two men have in common is their passion for chess. But despite all these contrasts, Vasil will slowly break down the barriers put up by Alfredo. Because Vasil has this gift: he makes a difference to all the people he relates to.

the director: Avelina Prat

Evelina has a degree in architecture and a long career in the film industry, where she has worked as a screenwriter on more than 30 feature films directed by filmmakers such as Cesc Gay, David Trueba, Javier Rebollo, or Manuel Martín Cuenca. She has directed and written numerous short films that have received many awards at national and international film festivals, such as 3/105 which was selected at the Venice Film Festival in 2014. Vasil is her first and highly anticipated fiction feature film.

director’s statement

“Immigration is a second layer in Vasil, and not at all the main subject. The most important thing for me was to describe the difficulty in connecting with the other, be it a foreigner or your own family. But here the problem is intensified by the fact that we have an outsider, and he serves perfectly well to make us ask ourselves the question of who the outsider really is, the stranger we are hosting for a few days and our relatives whose occupations are of no interest to us. There is an inevitable distance we keep with everyone: those who are close, those who are far away, with anyone. Getting to truly know someone takes effort, time and is a bit scary. We always have an awkwardness and a difficulty in really communicating.”

filmografia

2007 208 palabras (short)

2010 Puerta 6 (short)

2011 El abrigo rojo (short)

2013 La fábrica de luz (short doc)

2014 3/105 (short)

2022 On Set with – Lilly Reich (doc)

2022 Vasil

awards and festivals

2022 Warsaw IFF – Competition 1-2

2022 Valladolid IFF: Best Actors Ivan Barnev, Karra Elejalde

2022 Berlanga Awards: Best Film, Director, Screenplay, Original Score, Supporting Actress (Susi Sánchez), Costume Design, Sound (Iván Martínez-Rufat)

2023 Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain: Solidarity Medal

2023 The Golden Linden IFF – International Competition