Six young students met at Barcelona’s prestigious Pompeu Fabra University and realized they worked well together. The result of that synergy is Col·lectiu Vigília, formed by Clara Serrano Llorens, Gerard Simó Gimeno, Laura Corominas Espelt, Ariadna Ulldemolins Abad, Laura Serra Solé and Pau Vall Capdet. In defiance of the industry’s usually glacial pace for debuts, the collective makes its first feature outing with a graduation project turned festival hit in “The Imminent Age.”
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Playing at the Made in Spain sidebar at the San Sebastián Film Festival, “The Imminent Age” is an intimate look at the life of soon-to-be 18-year-old Bruno (Miquel Mas Martínez), whose youthful impulses and longings stand in contradiction to the responsibility of being the sole carer for his ailing 86-year-old grandmother, Nati (Antonia Fernández Mir). The film has been nominated for best new director at the Gaudí Awards, received the best Spanish Screenplay Award at the Gijón Festival, and a special mention at the Cork Festival. The film is produced by Ringo Media. Outplay Films handles sales.
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Speaking with Variety ahead of San Sebastián, Capdet, both the film’s producer and cinematographer, says working as a collective came “naturally.” “This film was originally a university project, which was later produced with a production company and a few more conventional means, but it came from that environment. Although it wasn’t a path of roses going forward, we always embraced this collaborative process of giving each other feedback and sharing this collective creative power between us.”
In terms of how they functioned logistically during the shooting, the decision was to have the roles be split between them so they could “all effectively perform” their duties while “sharing some part of the creative power that belonged to the whole group.” “It was a balancing process between having a common approach for our film while also having our own effective methodology so the film could work in the long term.”
Asked whether or not they intend to continue working under the same model, Capdet says he is not sure just yet, as this was not a consideration they had in mind during production of the film. “What we know for sure is that we will continue to collaborate because we know we work well together. We’re just not sure if we’ll keep producing films the same way as we did this one.”
Llorens, who signed the direction, also emphasized how their way of working made it possible for the film to get produced so quickly, in under a year. “This was only possible because our financing strategy was quite simple. We only had one fund, the regional fund, and we got it right when we were about to start shooting.”
“We thought the film was going to get made with or without conventional funding structures,” echoes Capdet. “When we got the funds, we had already begun shooting, albeit with fewer resources. I think most filmmakers don’t have this luxury. We had it because we are a collective, we just came out of university and we didn’t face the same pressures. I think when you’re a bit older and trying to make a living out of cinema, you can’t really take this approach.”
The creatives made a point to highlight the current great moment of Catalan and Spanish cinema, saying universities like Pompeu Fabra allow for the creative freedom that fosters real talent. The two also credit the ease of access to regional funds as a great propeller. “People who didn’t have access to funding before are now more likely to be able to fund their films,” adds Capdet.
On the process of making the film itself, Capdet says one of the great challenges was working with a non-actor in Fernández as they had to navigate the intricacies of that relationship on both sides. Fernández was the neighbor of one of the collective’s members and was chosen for the part due to her similarities with Nati. Once the initial conversations were out of the way, the elder was “very open to direction and super flexible.” “She also wanted to have fun, be with young people and make the most out of it.”
In terms of the tone for “The Imminent Age,” both Capdet and Llorens say they wanted it to have a certain “subtlety.” The producer explains they wanted “to have a distance that allows the spectator to have their own opinions on what was happening.”
On shooting more intimate scenes portraying the caring process between Bruno and Nati, Llorens says they were “difficult.” “We didn’t want to have anything that felt taboo because bodies are bodies, but, at the same time, we wanted Antonia to feel comfortable. We only showed on camera what she was comfortable showing on camera. We didn’t have an intimacy coordinator, but we had a lot of conversations, and the final decision was hers.”
As for what she has learned from making “The Imminent Age,” the director is categorical: “Just because a film is made by a collective, it doesn’t mean it won’t have a soul or good direction. Different voices can join in a way and become an interesting tool.”
