In what remains the biggest event in the Spanish film industry in 2024, last January, pay TV Movistar Plus+, behind premium series such as “Uma Boa Vida” and “The Plague”, called on the local press to reveal its biggest movement strategy in recent years.
Accompanying Movistar Plus executives Domingo Corral and Guillermo Farré were five of the best, most profitable and comparatively youngest filmmakers in Spain at the time: Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Alberto Rodríguez, Iciar Bolláin, Oliver Laxe and Ana Rujas. Collectively, they outlined plans to make occasional auteur films supported for commercial release in Spanish cinemas by the promotional muscle of Movistar Plus+.
Six months later, Rodríguez, director of the Goya Award-winning “Marshland” and the 1580 Sevillian thriller “The Plague,” is spotted on set by Selection on the southern coast of Spain, on a ship near Huelva, home to large, smoke-belching refineries and beautiful natural parks.
That setting gives “Los Tigres” a much bigger canvas. But Rodríguez says the film is a personal twist after deep dives into Spanish history, catching the nation at moments of change, such as “Jail 77,” a real-life prison escape film that became the most-watched film on Movistar Plus+ in 2023, outselling Hollywood blockbusters.
“Los Tigres” stars Antonio de la Torre (“The Countless Trench,” “The Realm,” “Group 7”) as Antonio, an industrial diver who maintains underwater pipelines that connect massive oil tankers to Huelva’s onshore refineries.
Dressed as underwater astronauts, Antonio and his sister Estrella (Barbara Lennie, “The Magic Woman,” “The Kingdom”) face loneliness and great dangers on the job as Antonio begins to feel that his time has passed, that he is just another diver in the planet’s vast oceans. Pressured to reconnect with his sister and adapt to life on land, Antonio’s life is shattered when he and Estrella discover a cache of cocaine in the hull of a ship anchored in Huelva’s main port.
Written with Rodríguez’s longtime co-writer Rafael Cobos (“The Plague”), “Los Tigres” is produced by Movistar Plus+ and co-produced by Kowalski Movies and Feelgood Media in Spain, with France’s Le Pacte. The Walt Disney Company handles Spanish theatrical distribution; The Film Production Unit holds worldwide rights.
“It’s a character-driven feature, although Rodríguez’s stories probably bring together many different layers,” noted Guillermo Farré, head of cinema at Movistar Plus+. “I feel like his true intention is to recreate social reality, along with its complexities, such as the difficult and dangerous working circumstances of corporate diving.”
The photographs were taken at the Huelva-CEPSA petrochemical plant and at the industrial port facilities of Huelva, in the marshy area of the Odiel river, protected by Unesco, and at the Ciudad de la Luz film studios, in Alicante. From July 5, production involved oil tankers and tugboats, ships and divers for underwater scenes in the open sea.
“The distinctive aspect of Movistar Film Originals is their insight into authors, taking care of them and aiming to make one of the best possible choices,” defined Kowalski Movies producer Koldo Zuazua. “The work that we all do collectively is really constructive, and we are all on the same page in terms of creativity and intentions.”
Selection spoke with Rodríguez on set:
What is at the heart of “Los Tigres”?
It’s a “big-hearted” film with a mystery mechanism, like “Jail 77”, focusing on the relationships between the characters, inside and outside the central environment.
How did you plan the change in the film’s narrative and theme?
We had finished some films that revisited Spain’s more recent historical past. However, we needed to be happy and free from the burden of the historical past. Our goal was an open feature. We talked about this when we finished “Jail” – making a private film. When everything is alleged and concluded, what haunts us the most are feelings. We prioritize our characters above all else.
Nature seems to be key within the film. How did you approach it?
It’s like the place where we are sitting. You have the petrochemical space there, and this is Saltes Island, a small island within the Huelva River and a pure paradise. There are two shores: Man and nature.
“Los Tigres” appears to be part of a push by Movistar Plus+ to push occasional author films. How does this affect you?
Now we have achieved an amazing stability with a lot of freedom, which is really necessary. They focus on auteur films, which may be what sets them apart from other platforms. This film could easily have become stereotypical, but it is far from that, since it is not a thriller. Its characters carry more weight than the rest of the context.
How has working underwater affected your career as an actor?
Each of them had to exercise and carry loads. Just their head gear can weigh up to 15 kilos. Physically, it is taxing for them. But Antonio de la Torre really enjoys it. He has been diving around the island to organize. Barbara Lennie also enjoys it, because she loves these physical changes.
Los Tigres
Julio Vergne credit score