In what remains the biggest event in the Spanish film industry in 2024, last January, pay TV Movistar Plus+, behind premium series such as “A Good Life” and “The Plague”, called on the local press to reveal its biggest strategic move 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 vast, steaming refineries and beautiful natural parks.
This setting gives “Los Tigres” a much larger canvas. However, Rodríguez says the film is a personal twist after deep dives into Spanish history, capturing the country at moments of change, such as “Jail 77,” a true jailbreak film that became the most-watched film on Movistar Plus+. in 2023, surpassing 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 huge oil tankers to Huelva’s land-based refineries. .
Dressed as underwater astronauts, Antonio and his sister Estrella (Barbara Lennie, “Magical Woman,” “The Realm”) face loneliness and great danger on the job as Antonio begins to feel like his time is past, that he is just another diver in the planet’s vast oceans. Pressured to reconnect with his sister and adapt to life on the ground, Antonio’s life is torn apart when he and Estrella discover a stash of cocaine inside the hull of a ship docked in the vital port of Huelva.
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 tales probably fold many different layers collectively,” said Guillermo Farré, head of film at Movistar Plus+. “I feel his true intention is to recreate social reality, along with its complexities, such as the dangerous and difficult working circumstances of corporate diving.
Taking photos took place at the Huelva-CEPSA petrochemical plant and in the amenities of the industrial port of Huelva, in the Unesco-protected Rio Odiel swamp and in the Ciudad de la Luz film studios of Alicante. On July 5, manufacturing involved tankers and tugboats, ships and divers for open-ocean underwater scenes.
“The difference with Movistar Originals is that we focus on our authors, taking care of them and aiming to make the best possible films,” explained Kowalski Movies producer Koldo Zuazua. “The work we all do together is really constructive and we are all on the same page in terms of creativity and intentions.”
Selection spoke to Rodríguez on set:
What is at the heart of “Los Tigres”?
It is 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 a few films that revisited Spain’s more recent historical past. However, we needed to be happy and free from this weight 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 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’re sitting. There is the petrochemical area there, and this is Saltes Island, a commercial islet on the Huelva River and a pure paradise. There are two margins: man and nature.
“Los Tigres” appears to be part of an effort by Movistar Plus+ to promote auteur 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 actors’ trajectories?
Each of them needed to exercise and gather loads. The headgear alone can weigh up to 15 kilos. Physically, it is difficult for them. But Antonio de la Torre likes it a lot. He has been diving around the island to organize himself. Barbara Lennie likes it too, because she loves these physical adjustments.
The Tigers
Julio Vergne credit score