Images: Sergio Betancort
Posters in Arabic, graffiti with Arabic motifs on the walls, streets full of sand, cars prepared to simulate an attack and even an Arab market set up in the middle of the city. Arrecife is preparing to host the filming of the movie "Invasor", the new film by the Catalan director based in San Sebastián, Daniel Calparsoro, based on the novel of the same name by Fernando Marías.
The film is set in the context of an international mission in the Middle East, and Arrecife has prepared for the occasion. Filming began this Wednesday, at 7:30 a.m., on La Inés street. There, several operators were covering the asphalt with sand on Tuesday morning. The shops have changed their traditional signs for claims in Arabic and several painters were covering some walls with Arabic motifs.
But perhaps, the most spectacular set of this filming is in the warehouses of the old Garavilla Canning factory, now converted into an authentic Arab market, with its cafes around. Clothing, spice, food and objects of all kinds can be found in this scenario where, according to the film's Art Director, Juan Pedro De Gaspar, they have been working "for a month". "Look, all this, for 30 seconds," he adds.
In this space a scene will be filmed, in which an attack with a car bomb will be simulated, which will take place outside the market. The scene, if there is time, will also be filmed this Wednesday, according to De Gaspar. The characters in the film will enter through the market and there they will witness the attack. For this, there are already cars prepared, completely destroyed, with beams in between, overturned, etc. "There will be an atmosphere with a lot of smoke", says the film's art director
"They come through the market, cross everything, pass in front of where that image of Saddam has been painted, continue where this car that we have blown up is, and surrounding corpses, they will reach the area of the explosion. There will be a wounded child and in this space, which is supposed to be a cafe, they will begin to attend to the wounded. Then there is a girl who is dying and some American soldiers will arrive, who will stay stabilizing the girl to take her to the hospital, which will be set up a little further on," says De Gaspar.
In Lanzarote, according to the art director, they will be filming throughout the week. For two days, in Arrecife, where it will also be filmed in the streets Cabo Jubi, Luis Fajardo Ferrer and El Tiburcio, in addition to Almirante Boado Endeiza, Pedro Barba, Carlos Sáez Infante, El Dante and Canalejas, in the section between Democracia and Mancomunidad streets. Afterwards, scenes will be taken in other locations on the island. Almost 300 extras from the island will participate in the filming, who have been previously selected by the production team.
The team will later leave for Galicia, where the film will finish shooting. "We will be filming until December," says De Gaspar, who explains that in Galicia it is easier, because the novel runs precisely between Iraq and Galicia. "Galicia is Galicia and it is the landscape that it is, it is not like recreating Iraq." The film also includes scenes shot in Fuerteventura.
Actors and filming
The main cast of the film is made up of Alberto Ammann (Cell 211, Lope), Antonio de la Torre (Sad Trumpet Ballad, Gordos), Karra Elejalde (Airbag, Even the Rain) and Inma Cuesta (Cousins, The Sleeping Voice). The film is produced by Vaca Films (the same as Cell 211).
The story begins when, after an attack that almost cost him his life, Pablo, a Spanish military doctor assigned to an international mission, returns home convalescing with his wife and daughter.
When he recovers the memory of what happened, Pablo suspects that they are hiding information about the circumstances of the attack and, despite pressure from high command, he refuses to support the official version, putting his safety and that of his family at risk.
