SPAIN
ME, TOO
2009 – 35mm – color - 103’
Direction: Álvaro Pastor, Antonio Naharro
Screenplay: Álvaro Pastor, Antonio Naharro
Cinematography: Alfonso Postigo
Editing: Nino Martínez Sosa
Set design: Inés Aparicio
Music: Guille Milkyway
Costumes: Fernando García
Cast: Lola Dueñas, Pablo Pineda, Antonio Naharro, Isabel García Lorca, Pedro Álvarez Ossorio, Consuelo Trujillo
Producer: Manuel Gómez Cardeña, Julio Medem, Koldo Zuazua
Production: Alicia Produce, Promico Imagen
SYNOPSIS
Thirty-four-year-old Daniel is the first European with Down syndrome to have graduated from university. He starts a social services job in Seville, where he meets free-spirited co-worker Laura. They become fast friends, drawing the attention of both their co-workers and families. Their unique relationship becomes problematic when Daniel falls in love with her. But these rebellious souls refuse to bend to the rules and they find friendship and love as they have never known.
THE DIRECTORS:
ÁLVARO PASTOR
Born in Madrid, 1972. He studied screenwriting and filmmaking under Miguel Picazo, and acting under Juan Carlos Corazza and Catalina Lladó. He also studied music at the Madrid Conservatory.
He has worked in cinema, television and publicity as a screenwriter and/or a director, mostly on short features. He has directed and produced five shorts, among which his last one, Invulnerable, has won over 40 international awards.
He has co-written scripts with Antonio Naharro for the past fourteen years. Together they have written five screenplays and co-directed the short feature One More, One Less, for which they were nominated to the 2002 Goya Awards.
ANTONIO NAHARRO
Born in Albacete, Spain 1968. He studied acting under Juan Carlos Corazza (Madrid) and Bernard Hiller (Los Angeles and Rome), William Layton, John Strasberg, etc. He also graduated at the Gestalt Therapy School in Madrid.
Working in cinema, theatre and television, he garners most of his professional experience by means of short features, starting out as an actor and screenwriter and moving into production and direction with Álvaro Pastor on the short feature One More, One Less, the winner of numerous awards and nominated to the 2002 Goya Awards for Best Fictional Short Feature.
In 2004, he starred in and co-produced the short Invulnerable, directed by Álvaro Pastor, and was awarded several acting prizes in international festivals (Alcala de Henares, Brest, Brussels, etc.).
Me, Too is the directors’ first full-length feature film.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
(…) We chose practically unknown actors to accompany the main roles and lend plausibility to the story. With Lola Dueñas, we created a complex character that could lend a twist to the story and could show us a “normal” person with a whole bunch of problems.
As regards the aesthetic and narrative line, together with Alfonso Postigo, the director of photography, we decided to go for a bare set design and film it with a shoulder camera and realistic lighting. Shooting with actors with Down syndrome requires that the crew pay special attention. They are quick to give what s needed in each scene, but the crew has to adapt and you have to know how to make yourself understood.
In the film there are two cities, Seville and Madrid; in the same way that there are two main roles and two worlds that cross and meet. Both characters undertake a journey which will shape their future. For Laura, it’s a reunion with her past. For Daniel, it’s the beginning of adult life.
AWARDS AND FESTIVALS
2009 San Sebastian: Best Actress (Lola Dueñas), Best Actor (Pablo Pineda)
2010 Goya Awards: Best Actress (Lola Dueñas), Best Original Song to Yo, también by Guille Milkyway
2010 Sundance Festival - World Cinema
