10.000 km (Carlos Marques-Marcet, 2014): Spain

Reviewed by Mina Gilbertsson. Viewed at AFIFest 2014.

The opening scene is the most intimate scene in the whole film, when Sergi (David Verdaguer) and Alex (Natalia Tena), tries to conceive a baby. Unfortunately the honeymoon stage is soon to be over when Alex is given the one year opportunity to work in Los Angeles. The film is portraying the raw reality of what happens when two people share different paths.

The film is shot in two different apartments, one in Barcelona and one in Los Angeles. The debuting director Carlos Marques-Marcet used Google Maps and Skype as tools to portray their long distance communication, which was very much appreciated. It brought out the raw- and realness from the narrative to the screen. The Skype dates were recorded live with several cameras capturing the action, only to get the angles that the director wanted.

The intimate opening scene was the first recorded scene on set, which made the actors connect in a electric way that is represented in the film. Their love and connection is really what draws the audience to the film. But every love story runs into problems which the story beautifully shows in different ways. The film completely took me by surprise. It was raw and truthful and not like any other Hollywood film. I think it is safe to say that this was my favorite film during the festival.