“Yo no moriré de amor,” the feature debut of theatre actress Marta Matute, among the five titles selected by the Madrid Film School’s ECAM incubator program, has been boarded by Elastica Films,
whose credits include Berlinale Golden Bear prize winner “Alcarràs” and “Creatura,” Elena Martin’s best European film winner at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.
The family drama is lead produced by José Esteban Alenda and César Esteban Alenda’s Solita Films, which saw their first international co-production, “El despertar de las hormigas,” by Costa Rican Antonella Sudasassi, world premiere at Berlinale’s Forum and become the first Central American film to be nominated for a Spanish Goya.
Executive producer Cecilia Rivas of Solita Films told Variety she is hoping to close a European co-production deal for “Yo no moriré de amor” in San Sebastian.
“Elastica Films makes an ideal partner as we share the same vision,” she noted, adding that they’re expecting to hear from Spanish film institute ICAA and broadcaster RTVE about additional support.
The drama, “I Won’t Die for Love” in English, follows 20-year-old Claudia who, along with her siblings, is coping with the challenges of taking care of their mother who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. But she refuses to sacrifice her youth to be her mother’s caregiver. As their mother’s disease progresses, Claudia’s dysfunctional family begins to grow closer.
“From the age of 19 to 28, I devoted a large part of my life to caring for my mother. Now I am thirty-four and my memory of those years still lingers. ‘Yo no moriré de amor’ was born with the aim of accompanying and making visible all those young people who become early caregivers of their parents,” said Matute.
Tapping incidents from her own life, Matute wrote the screenplay to “Yo no moriré de amor” without any previous writing experience. “To my surprise it has been widely accepted to wherever I submit it,” she said. In 2020, she entered her script in the Residencias program of Spain’s Academy of Motion Pictures and won the SGAE Julio Alejandro Screenplay Award.
She has recently completed her first short film as a director, “Una amiga,” with support from ICAA and the Community of Madrid where she found part of her crew for “Yo no moriré de amor.” “I had a blast and learned a lot, I hope to make another short before my feature,” said Matute.
Based in Madrid, Solita Films has been producing auteur-driven and genre features for more than 10 years. Its co-production with Puerto Rico, “La Pecera,” directed by Glorimar Marrero, world premiered at Sundance and had its European premiere at last week’s Göteborg Festival.
Solita Films currently has in post “Alemania” by María Zanetti, a co-production with Juan Pablo Miller of Tarea Fina (Argentina) and documentary “Hija del Volcán,” helmed by Jenifer de la Rosa, in co-production with Mexico’s Mayéutica Prods, Auna Prods. and Cebolla Films, also in post.
It’s also developing suspense thriller “Deliver Us from Evil”; claustrophobic horror film “Waka Waka” and fantasy young adult drama, “Alma and the Seven Monsters.”
For the Alenda brothers, Matute’s story resonated with them as they experienced something similar in their lives.
Describing the drama’s screenplay as “mature, intelligent and emotional… but, above all, honest,” they added: “It’s as honest as something can only be when it’s told from the truth and the rawness of what one has experienced firsthand. And Marta has lived it. It’s the kind of story that sometimes scare us as viewers, but later transform us.”
“For us, it’s a story that needs to be told because if we want to improve as a society, we must learn to normalize caregiving and death as part of life,” they said.
