Me Too

A FILM WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY ÁLVARO PASTOR & ANTONIO NAHARRO,

produced by Alicia Produce & Promico

Imagen

distributed in Spain by Golem Distribution

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.

CAST Laura LOLA DUEÑAS Daniel PABLO PINEDA Santi (Daniel’s brother) ANTONIO NAHARRO Mª Ángeles (Daniel’s mother) ISABEL GARCÍA LORCA Bernabé (Daniel’s father) PEDRO ÁLVAREZ OSSORIO Consuelo CONSUELO TRUJILLO Pedro DANIEL PAREJO Luisa LOURDES NAHARRO Pilar (Luisa’s mother) CATALINA LLADÓ Reyes MARÍA BRAVO Nuria (Laura’s sister-in-law) SUSANA MONJE Pepe JOAQUÍN PERLES Rocío TERESA ARBOLÍ Encarni ANA PEREGRINA Macarena ANA DE LOS RISCOS Quique (Laura’s brother) RAMIRO ALONSO The Dance Company DANZA MOBILE from Seville

TECHNICAL DATA Screenplay & Directors: ÁLVARO PASTOR

& ANTONIO NAHARRO.

Produced by: ALICIA PRODUCE, PROMICO IMAGEN

Producers: MANUEL GÓMEZ CARDEÑA, JULIO MEDEM & KOLDO ZUAZUA .

Executive Producers: KOLDO ZUAZUA & EMILIO GONZÁLEZ.

Photography: ALFONSO POSTIGO. Editor: NINO MARTÍNEZ SOSA. Score: GUILLE MILKYWAY. Sound Recording: EVA VALIÑO. Sound Editing: NACHO ROYO

PELAYO GUTIÉRREZ .

Art Director: INÉS APARICIO. Make-Up & Hair: YOLANDA PIÑA. Wardrobe: FERNANDO GARCÍA. Line Producer: VERÓNICA DÍAZ. 1st A.D.: CARLOS GRAS. With the support of the ICAA and the Cultural Boards of Andalusia and Castile La Mancha, as well as that of the Andalusian Board for Equality and Social Well-Being; the Federation of Autonomous Televisions, FORTA, and Canal+ also participated in its making.

PRODUCTION DETAILS Duration: 103 minutes Format: 35 mm - 1:1:85 Sound: Dolby Digital Optical Locations: Seville, Huelva and Madrid Shooting period: 5 weeks

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 screenwriter and/or 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 is also a graduate of 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 stars in and co-produces 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.

COMMENTS FROM THE DIRECTORS

We first became acquainted with Pablo Pineda on television while we were in Seville. Antonio was living there and Álvaro was visiting to meet the Danza Móbile Company to prep a project with them. We had both considered examining intellectual disability and Down syndrome more thoroughly after making the short “One More, One Less”. When we first heard Pablo, we immediately knew that he was both unique and exactly like everyone else. We were moved by his evident loneliness. His position appeared to be that of a bridge that spanned two worlds as he seemed to be in two places at once: The world of intellectual disability and the so-called normal world. He was in no man’s land. And that’s how DANIEL, Pablo’s alter ego, came to be. Down syndrome is characterized, among other things, by its difficulty to respect social rules. We thought that a woman of rebellious nature would be the ideal complement. Someone with a “down” nature to complement a man with Down syndrome strangely capable of adapting to norms. The character had to be able to bring out the expressiveness and spontaneity that Daniel carries within himself. As soon as we spoke to LOLA DUEÑAS, we were pretty sure she had the essence of this role and, after a couple sessions, LAURA came to be. Our first step was to write the screenplay without really knowing Pablo. We let our intuition guide us and often spoke with Fernando Castets, our tutor in the Fundación Carolina Screenplay Workshop that we were attending at Casa de América. Our goal, at that point, was to create a fictional story around a character with Pablo Pineda’s reality. Antonio’s sister, Laura, has Down syndrome, but this case was different. We had never met anyone with Down syndrome who could express complex ideas in such a clear cut manner. Had he memorized what he had to say on TV? Was he really like he seemed to be? After finishing the second draft of the screenplay we decided to go to Malaga to meet him. We came out of that first meeting convinced that there was a story to tell. Pablo surprised time and time again during that first conversation, and it deeply inspired us to keep on moving forward. From the very first moment, there was a connection between us. Pablo liked the story and started working with us. There was much to investigate. Months later, after one of our visits to Malaga, we realized that he was the only one who could play this role. So, we asked him to. We needed to carry out a test to make sure he would be capable of playing the role. In half an hour we knew we could do it. He was a natural, even though we would need to rehearse a lot to avoid the acting clichés that he was used to. His intelligence, emotional openness and trust made it an easy job.

The family’s approval was essential. This subject is very important within the film. Families are very present in mentally challenged peoples’ lives, just like in everybody’s. We tried to create different types of families with diverse point of views so that the world surrounding our characters would be more realistic. In this, oftentimes, reduced world, we wanted to include other characters with Down syndrome whose reality is more global than that of the main role. This is why we intended to work from the start with the Danza Móbile Company. We met Koldo Zuazua, one of the film’s producers, who had already shown his interest in our previous project, the short feature “Invulnerable”. He liked the project and took it to Alicia Produce, Julio Medem’s production company, who showed great sensitivity concerning this venture. The preparation period was long. There were many rehearsals, and numerous rewrites as we adapted the script according to what we discovered along the way. For us, selecting the actors and the technical crew was a very important process. It’s also fair to say that, as directors, we are very satisfied by our choices. Choosing well makes everything easier. 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. ABOUT THE DANCE Daniel’s character, as Pablo Pineda himself, is a very special person with Down syndrome. We needed to be able to show the audience the difference between him and other people with Down syndrome if we wanted them to understand his complexity. To show the other reality of disability. But we wanted to do more than just that. The Danza Móbile Company was an authentic discovery for us. To show people with less intellectual capacity but with far more physical capacity than our hero, Daniel, and than many of ourselves, was something we considered necessary to understand one of the questions we ask in this story: Where is the disability?

We’re not referring to the physical capacity of an athlete, but to that of people capable of establishing a physical connection with an almost inexplicable dimension by means of their bodies and music. That’s what dance is for, actually. To carry the unexplainable to the spectator. We wanted for all those mentally challenged people who worked on the film to be able to express him or herself in his or her own way, thereby completing the story. In dance, we found the most intimate way of expression for people with Down syndrome.

An extraordinary opportunity that also lends formal beauty, movement and silent emotion to the film.

ABOUT THE MUSIC From the moment we started working on the script, we knew that the music would be fundamental. As we were going to work with such a special dance group, we thought long and hard about how to treat the music within the film. From the very first, we knew we didn’t want a punctuating narrative score and, besides, the aesthetic look we’d decided on required something different. In all our works we have always been pretty obsessed with creating a soundtrack that does more than just illustrate or underline the scenes. We wondered how we could make the score and the songs tell us things about the characters, the different areas, the family… We decided to work with a pop musician on the original score. We wanted a theme for Daniel and Laura. A few notes, a simple, straightforward musical phrase that would be easily remembered; that is pop. We liked Guille Milkyway’s work (La Casa Azul) and we had already decided to include one of his star themes in the soundtrack. He was delighted to collaborate right from the beginning, as was Luis Calvo, from Elefant Music Supervision and Elefant Records, who publishes his records. With his help we completed the soundtrack and included priceless jewels of British pop from bands such as The School, BMX Bandits, Gentle People, Camera Obscura or Nick Garrie; Italian ones by Giorgio Tuma or Fitness Forever; Australian ones from Riot in Belgium, and Spanish ones from Souvenir, Beef and La Casa Azul. To lend more color to this “indie” musical mix, we used themes from street musicians or the first recordings the musicians made in their own homes for the Danza Móbile Company. For example, Charles Lavaine’s original theme. Music that wasn’t perfect, incomplete in some way. Lastly, we couldn’t forget that the story took place in Seville, and so chose a music with its roots in a type of flamenco not too distant from pop, the rumba, and included songs by Manzanita, Las Grecas and the film’s central theme, a pop rumba from La Casa Azul titled Me Too.

MORE PARENTS What makes me really proud about the existence of Me Too is its straightforward pointing towards the horizon we have behind our eyes, where those people we don’t really understand live, those who aren’t visible, not clearly so, those who need more parenting time (or more parents). This film, an island unto itself, knows what it speaks about and it does so in the first person, making us feel closer to them, to those who were born with an extra chromosome. By placing reality in front of us and brushing it with the magic of understanding, Me Too takes us down a path riddled with beautiful details, as well as beautiful situations filled with such harshness that we can only help if we feel ashamed. This is a love story on two levels; I suppose we could call it a mixture. It’s not an easy thing to do, but it gets you from the start with very little in the cooking pot and unprecedented courage as it scales a wall that grows higher and higher until it reaches its goal: to teach us how they love and to learn to love them, on the inside as well. People with Down syndrome are joyfully complex in their interior and, on the surface, what can I say? We all know they are the most sincere and open people in the world. They have their own sense of humor that leads to tenderness, and in this film they are allowed to live that way, without being manhandled.

I can feel excited and laugh as much as I want with Me Too, as I have been a father, for the past sixteen years, of a lucky charm girl named Alicia. The production company is named after her; she’s my partner and is very present in my life. Now I can say that I’m also proud to be a father (one of them, along with Promico Imagen) of this lucky charm film, although not a mother (that only happens on the films I direct). So, with a father’s true love, I’m enjoying the thought that thanks to Me Too our children may well discover more parents, that is, all kinds of admirers and loved ones.

As to the maternal figure, and I mean the mother as the true author, gestating and birthing the creature, Me Too has two of the best ones: Antonio Naharro and Álvaro Pastor. To the parental threesome we must add Koldo Zuazua, the true patriarch in this story.

Now, for us (the family) there only remains to wait for the audience to walk in, open their eyes and see how the beautiful faces of our main characters, Pablo Pineda and Lola Dueñas, light up the screen. I’m sure that once their love story begins to create currents, needs, obstacles, spaces… Once it is habitable, the spectator won’t be able to resist a great truth, a truth as big as can be, a feeling that something is beginning, something intimate and delicate, a pure emotion. Perhaps then, from the inside, the spectator will discover a new horizon where all those other loves are clearly visible (you can feel them, but you cannot always live them). It was always there, surrounding us, but seeing it so close will help us clear up our existence. In my imagination I see Me Too taking off in Donosti and never coming down. A trip through time and space in this world would be fascinating, of course, but, above all, it’s what its five inhabitants deserve. Thank you Álvaro, Antonio, Koldo, Lola and Pablo for existing within this film! Julio Medem

THE ACTORS

LOLA DUEÑAS Lola Dueñas received a Goya for her role in the film The Sea Inside, directed by Alejandro Amenábar, and was nominated for another for her role in Volver (To Return), directed by Pedro Almodóvar. She plays the role of Laura, Daniel’s co-worker with whom he falls in love.

PABLO PINEDA He is the real thing and plays his fictional alter ego, Daniel Sanz. Although this is his first time on the big screen, he’s quite used to working with the media and has participated in numerous TV shows.

SUPPORTING ROLES

The rest of the cast consist of unknown actors, something essential to make fiction as real as possible. Among them are Consuelo Trujillo, Isabel García Lorca or Pedro Álvarez Ossorio, names that perhaps mean nothing to the spectators, although they are experienced actors. THE DANZA MÓBILE COMPANY The Danza Móbile Company, from Seville, with its mentally challenged dancers, is an essential part of the film´s storyline. The Danza Móbile Company was funded in Seville in 1996, and is formed by dancers with limited intellectual capacity who receive their formation at the Scenic Arts Center “Danza Móbile”. At the beginning, this dance company was founded with the intention of becoming a platform to prove that any person has the right to step onto the stage if he or she has something to say and has the sufficient preparation. The company also wanted to offer a professional job opportunity to the students at the Scenic Arts Center. But its utmost goal was to introduce a dance company with dancers with limited intellectual capacity on the general dance circuit, allowing the public, critics and the market to assess freely their artistic qualities.

CHARACTER DESCRIPTION DANIEL SANZ, played by PABLO PINEDA From Seville. 33 years old, he has Down syndrome. He’s the first European with Down syndrome to obtain a University degree in Teaching and Psycho-pedagogy. He’s a good worker, clean-cut, tenacious and loving. LAURA VALIENTE, played by LOLA DUEÑAS From Madrid. 35 years old, a powerfully sexually attractive woman. She’s a social worker for the regional government of Andalusia. She likes a drink, having fun and is promiscuous; she has decided to leave her past behind. Mª ANGELES (Daniel’s mother), played by ISABEL GARCÍA LORCA From Seville. 55 years old. A strong, intelligent woman. She values culture ad academic success above all things. She gave up working to look after her son. Thanks to her, Daniel was capable of attending a normal school. BERNABÉ (Daniel’s father), played by PEDRO ÁLVAREZ-OSSORIO From Seville. 60 years old. A thin man with an intellectual look. A university professor. Fun and sometimes rash. Unlike his wife, he values spontaneity. A humorous and lively man. SANTI, played by ANTONIO NAHARRO 38 years old. Daniel’s older brother. Together with Reyes, his partner, he directs an occupational dance center. He’s the person Daniel trusts the most. Besides being his brother, he’s his only friend. REYES, played by MARÍA BRAVO From Seville. 40 years. She manages the occupational dance center together with Santi. An ex-dancer, she’s attractive in a peculiar way. Full of energy and maternal instinct. She’s been working with incapacitated people for several years. CONSUELO, played by CONSUELO TRUJILLO From Seville. 45 years old. A social worker for the regional government of Andalusia. She solves problems but can’t help getting involved more than is absolutely necessary. PEPE, played by JOAQUÍN PERLES From Seville. 50 years old. A psychologist for the regional government of Andalusia. Separated, he has a little girl. A womanizer and a talker, he’s Mr. Know-It-All at the office.

LUISA, played by LOURDES NAHARRO 27 years old. She has Down syndrome. She’s a dancer at the occupational dance center. Lively and intelligent. Her family overprotects her. PEDRO, played by DANIEL PAREJO A young man with Down syndrome, he’s a dancer at the occupational dance center and a friend of Luisa’s. Streetwise and fun. LUISA’S MOTHER, played by CATALINA LLADÓ From Seville. 65 years old. She owns a pastry shop in the center of Seville. Overprotective and conservative. The mother of five children who are all married except Luisa, her youngest daughter, who lives with her and her husband. ENCARNI, played by ANA PEREGRINA 23 years old. She has a brother with Down syndrome and has taken care of him ever since their parents died. His situation drives her to despair.

PRODUCERS

PROMICO IMAGEN (Producer) PROMICO IMAGEN S.L. is an audiovisual production company founded by Manuel Gómez Cardeña (1951), journalist and producer, in Seville in 2001. Emilio González García is in charge of development and content, and Mónica Cuadrado Estepa acts as line producer and is in charge of administration. Since October 2002, the company has been producing the weekly program El público lee for CANAL SUR 2 ANDALUCÍA, to encourage and promote reading. The screenwriters’ workshop at PROMICO IMAGEN, led by Fernando Hugo Rodrigo, has been in charge of the scripts for La Banda, CANAL SUR 2 ANDALUCÍA and CANAL SUR TV, since November, 2006. By means of PasoAlSur, S.L. (2005), of which PROMICO IMAGEN holds 70%, that is, all active assets pertaining to PasoAlSur Producciones, S.L. (1998), the production company has acquired ample experience in the following: -TV movies co-produced with Pausoka, S.A. for FORTA: Pleno al 15, Clara, Asalto Informático, María la Portuguesa, El harén de Aníbal, Autopsia, Entre cien fuegos, Mobbing & Etxekoak. -Documentaries such as Andalucía Mágica (13 episodes), for CANAL SUR 2 ANDALUCÍA; Orgulloso el viento hería, about the Vélez Blanco castle; Los juegos moriscos de Purchena. -Docu-shows such as La Vida en un día (39 epsiodes), for CANAL SUR 2 ANDALUCÍA. -Entertainment (music and comedy) such as Si te he visto no me acuerdo (4 episodes), for CANAL SUR TV. At this time, PROMICO IMAGEN is preparing the documentary series Arquitectura Viva, by Fernando H. Rodrigo and the TV movie 6 Motivos, to be directed by Vicente Monsonís and co-produced with Terra a la Vista, a production company in Valencia.

ALICIA PRODUCE (Producer) ALICIA PRODUCE was founded in 1997 by Julio Medem. -Own production: * Chaotic Ana (2006-2007). A fictional feature film written and directed by Julio Medem, co-produced by Sogecine, Volcano Films & Alicia Produce. Festivals at which it has participated:

• Toronto International Film Festival • London International Film Festival • Rome International Film Festival

* ¿Qué tienes debajo del sombrero? (2006) A creative documentary written and directed by Lola Barrera and Iñaki Peñafiel. It received backing from Programa Media, the Basque Government, ICAA and the ONCE Foundation, and was bought by TVE (Spanish Television).

• Opened at the Valladolid Film Festival (2006). • Best Art Documentary “Enrique Grau”, Bogota Film Festival 2006. • Best Documentary Award “primavera cinematográfica de Lorca” 2007. • It has participated at the following festivals: Eurodok (Oslo 2006); Spanish Film

Festival, Australia; Doku.Arts (Berlin)…

* Uno por ciento, esquizofrenia (2006). A creative documentary written and directed by Ione Hernández.

• Opened at the Seville Film Festival (2006). • It has participated in the Cartagena Film Festival (Colombia), at Bahia (Brasil), at

DOCSDF (Mexico) * Juego (2006). A fictional short feature written and directed by Ione Hernández. * The Basque Ball: Skin Against Stone (2003). A documentary feature film that opened at the San Sebastian International Film Festival (September, 2003), and was shown in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Venezuela, Uruguay and Puerto Rico.

• Special EGEDA award for best Documentary Feature Film. Nominated to the Goya Awards for Best Documentary (2004) by the Spanish Academy, and nominated for Best Documentary by the European Film Academy.

• Jury Award for best Latin American Documentary and Fipresci award for best Latin American Feature Documentary at the Guadalajara Film Festival (Mexico) (2004).

• Best Documentary Screenplay Award from the Screenwriters Association of Catalonia. IBAIA award (Basque Producers Association) to the riskiest production (2004).

• International Film Festivals at which it has participated: San Sebastian, London, Dublin, Sundance, Brussels, Havana, Cartagena, Seattle, Sahara, Wiesbaden, Australia, Melbourne…

Film Production Services:

• Sex and Lucia (Sogecine - 2001) • Lovers of the Arctic Circle (Sogecine - 1998)

Other Production Services: • Videoclips:

o El extranjero (Emi Odeón - 1999) • Commercials:

o Heineken (Ovideo Pub - 2003) o Balay (Ovideo Pub - 2002) o Movistar (Eddie Saeta - 1999)

Press: Internacional RICHARD LORMAND – World Cinema Publicity

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