The feature film «The Shepherd» hits the big screen
The film has received the support of the Salamanca City Council through the Salamanca City of Culture Foundation and Salamanca Film Commission
The feature film, whose translation to the Anglo-Saxon market will be “The Shepherd”, was filmed in October 2015 and featured a wide cast of actors from Salamanca among its protagonists.
The third feature film directed by Salamanca-born filmmaker Jonathan Cenzual premieres tomorrow, July 7, in numerous cinemas across Spain. Theaters in Valladolid, Seville, Valencia, Santiago de Compostela, Badajoz, Huelva, Madrid, Marbella, Alicante, or Malaga will screen the film. The commercial release of “The Shepherd” represents a significant achievement for a work that began its journey in 2015.
The commercialization process began at the parallel market held at the Cannes International Film Festival, where a private screening was held for producers and distributors. From there, the feature film has traveled to some twenty national and international festivals, where it has won numerous awards. Noteworthy among these are those awarded at the Montreal Film Festival, where it received prizes for best film, best director, and best actor for Miguel Martín (Cell 211); the Raindance Festival (London), where it also won the grand prizes: best film, director, and lead actor; the Brussels International Film Festival, best actor and best film at the Ajaccio Spanish and Latin American Film Festival. It has also been selected in over twenty festivals, including the Guadalajara International Film Festival in official competition, the Official Selection in Mannheim-Heidelberg, the Santa Barbara Film Festival, the Official Selection at the Toulouse Spanish Film Festival, and the Denver Film Festival. The feature film had its National Premiere at the past Gijón International Film Festival, in the competitive Rellumes section.
The film had its preview in Salamanca at the Liceo Theater on December 9, 2016. It has also received international recognition in more than 50 media publications such as Fotogramas, RTVE, Mooby, Cineuropa, Glasgowfilm, Themoviewaffer, El palomitrón, Coneysloft, Lwlies, Backchormeeboy, Theupcoming, Elblogdecineespanol, Top10films.co.uk, 35 milímetros, Sight & Sound, Fluxmagacine, La vanguardia, Regentstreetcinema, Clevelandfilm, IMDB, Cinemanía, The Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian, Empire, The Times, Time Out London…
“The Shepherd”, whose translation for the Anglo-Saxon market will be “The Shepherd”, can boast of being a one hundred percent Salamanca production, as it was filmed in October 2015 in the province and the city, and featured a large cast of Salamanca actors among its protagonists: Miguel Martín (Cell 211) is the story's protagonist and is accompanied by Alfonso Mendiguchia, (Teatro los Absurdos and La Malhablada) Maribel and Maite Iglesias (La Malhablada) and Juan Luis Sara, among others.
Salamanca, Monterrubio, and La Armuña are among the different locations chosen by the filmmaker. The landscape of the Castilian plateau has always been part of the director's feature films. His previous works: “The Soul of the Flies” (2011) and “The Year and the Vineyard” (2013) were set in the province.
The Salamanca-born filmmaker has a wide international reach, as his films have been distributed in cinemas in the United Kingdom, USA, and South America, in addition to participating in various festivals of proven prestige such as London, Sao Paulo, Karlovy Vary, Warsaw, Mill Valley, Barcelona, Cleveland, Saint Louis, or Naples.
The story revolves around a shepherd who lives modestly but peacefully in a house in a village in inner Spain, an environment bucolic enough for him to ignore offers coming from a construction company that intends to buy his land to build a housing development and a shopping center. Faced with the shepherd's refusal to sell, are the money-driven desires of the owners of the adjacent lands, who only respond to the logic of their own interests. The eternal struggle of conflicts that unfolds in a rural and claustrophobic world against a backdrop of skeletal plateaus and dormitory towns where, like a modern western, everything unravels until what at first glance is a simple disagreement over a land sale converges into an inevitable and violent end. A bloody metaphor for the greed of those who, to carry out their plans, do not hesitate to use any method at their disposal.
The film's financing process, in addition to traditional channels, has received support from a crowdfunding campaign through social media, as well as being economically supported by the Salamanca City of Culture Foundation.
The feature film has the support of the Salamanca City Council through the Salamanca Film Commission, the Salamanca City of Culture Foundation, and the Provincial Council of Salamanca.
The commercialization process began at the parallel market held at the Cannes International Film Festival, where a private screening was held for producers and distributors. From there, the feature film has traveled to some twenty national and international festivals, where it has won numerous awards. Noteworthy among these are those awarded at the Montreal Film Festival, where it received prizes for best film, best director, and best actor for Miguel Martín (Cell 211); the Raindance Festival (London), where it also won the grand prizes: best film, director, and lead actor; the Brussels International Film Festival, best actor and best film at the Ajaccio Spanish and Latin American Film Festival. It has also been selected in over twenty festivals, including the Guadalajara International Film Festival in official competition, the Official Selection in Mannheim-Heidelberg, the Santa Barbara Film Festival, the Official Selection at the Toulouse Spanish Film Festival, and the Denver Film Festival. The feature film had its National Premiere at the past Gijón International Film Festival, in the competitive Rellumes section.
The film had its preview in Salamanca at the Liceo Theater on December 9, 2016. It has also received international recognition in more than 50 media publications such as Fotogramas, RTVE, Mooby, Cineuropa, Glasgowfilm, Themoviewaffer, El palomitrón, Coneysloft, Lwlies, Backchormeeboy, Theupcoming, Elblogdecineespanol, Top10films.co.uk, 35 milímetros, Sight & Sound, Fluxmagacine, La vanguardia, Regentstreetcinema, Clevelandfilm, IMDB, Cinemanía, The Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian, Empire, The Times, Time Out London…
“The Shepherd”, whose translation for the Anglo-Saxon market will be “The Shepherd”, can boast of being a one hundred percent Salamanca production, as it was filmed in October 2015 in the province and the city, and featured a large cast of Salamanca actors among its protagonists: Miguel Martín (Cell 211) is the story's protagonist and is accompanied by Alfonso Mendiguchia, (Teatro los Absurdos and La Malhablada) Maribel and Maite Iglesias (La Malhablada) and Juan Luis Sara, among others.
Salamanca, Monterrubio, and La Armuña are among the different locations chosen by the filmmaker. The landscape of the Castilian plateau has always been part of the director's feature films. His previous works: “The Soul of the Flies” (2011) and “The Year and the Vineyard” (2013) were set in the province.
The Salamanca-born filmmaker has a wide international reach, as his films have been distributed in cinemas in the United Kingdom, USA, and South America, in addition to participating in various festivals of proven prestige such as London, Sao Paulo, Karlovy Vary, Warsaw, Mill Valley, Barcelona, Cleveland, Saint Louis, or Naples.
The story revolves around a shepherd who lives modestly but peacefully in a house in a village in inner Spain, an environment bucolic enough for him to ignore offers coming from a construction company that intends to buy his land to build a housing development and a shopping center. Faced with the shepherd's refusal to sell, are the money-driven desires of the owners of the adjacent lands, who only respond to the logic of their own interests. The eternal struggle of conflicts that unfolds in a rural and claustrophobic world against a backdrop of skeletal plateaus and dormitory towns where, like a modern western, everything unravels until what at first glance is a simple disagreement over a land sale converges into an inevitable and violent end. A bloody metaphor for the greed of those who, to carry out their plans, do not hesitate to use any method at their disposal.
The film's financing process, in addition to traditional channels, has received support from a crowdfunding campaign through social media, as well as being economically supported by the Salamanca City of Culture Foundation.
The feature film has the support of the Salamanca City Council through the Salamanca Film Commission, the Salamanca City of Culture Foundation, and the Provincial Council of Salamanca.