Jonás Trueba, awarded at Cannes: “We have made ourselves understood film by film”

“We have been making ourselves understood film by film,” says Trueba (Madrid, 1981) in a telephone conversation with EFE from Spain, where he learned about the award this Thursday after having spent several days on the French Riviera for the premiere of his film, which It took place last Monday.

“It is an award for a way of making. It is also demonstrating that films can be made the way we make them, with a measured scale, always trying to maintain the values ​​of independent cinema,” concluded the director, who with this participation was making his debut in Cannes.

Both he and the rest of the team – many of them regular collaborators on his films, such as the actors Itsaso Arana and Vito Sanz, who are also co-writers of the project along with Trueba himself – are celebrating an award that implies support for the film the European Cinema Network, through additional promotion and incentives to expand the exhibition of the film in theaters.

A very useful award

Trueba highlights above all the useful component of this award, which is not typical of awards, since it will “multiply” even more the options for 'Volverás' to be screened in different countries.

“It is very practical,” he says, “I love that it is an award that has a very concrete and very important meaning, because in the end you talk about promoting the dissemination of the film.”

In that sense, the director assures that he already felt “super privileged” with the selection of the film for the Filmmakers' Fortnight – a parallel section of Cannes Film Festival which highlights above all the author's views -, for being a window that, in fact, has already allowed it to raise a lot of interest from international distributors, as it was confirmed during its visit to the Croisette.

“It opens up possibilities for the film, which in the end is what it is about, for films to be seen and above all for them to reach cinemas, public spaces, countries where it is normally very difficult for us to reach. Especially with small films, with independent films like ours,” highlights Trueba.

Specifically, before the award, the film had been assigned as potential destinations such as Italy, Poland or the Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg).

The Madrid filmmaker, son of the director Fernando Trueba, also celebrates that this award is testimony of an appreciation for his particular way of understanding the cinema, which in France also has many admirers.

“I feel like now, somehow, we've reached a place of recognition that we probably never would have thought of,” he reflects.

In the Filmmakers' Fortnight, the contest does not award its own awards, so it is not a competition per se, but several of its partners and sponsors do award recognition, such as in this case the European Cinema Network.

The movie award-winning tells the story of a film director, Ale (Arana) and an actor, Alex (Sanz), who decide to break up by mutual agreement after more than a decade together.

But since everything is fine between them, they say, they decide to mark the occasion with a big party, like a wedding but in reverse, which leaves their friends and family completely bewildered.

Jonás Trueba (Madrid, 1981) made his debut as a feature film director with 'All the songs speak of me' (2010), for which he was nominated for the Goya for best new director.

In 2013 'Los ilusos' would arrive and then 'Los exiliados romanticos' (Special Prize from the Malaga jury, 2015), 'La reconquista' (2016), 'La Virgen de Agosto' (nominated for the César for best foreign film in 2019) , 'Who prevents it' (Goya for best documentary, 2022) or 'You have to come see it' (2022).

With 'Volverás', Trueba wins the same award that fellow Spaniard Elena Martín Gimeno received last year for her film 'Creatura'.