06/12/2023 - The absurd black comedy, which features an ensemble cast and has touches of Manchegan magical realism, stars both professional and non-professional actors

Director Enrique Buleo (left) with some of his actors (© Txuca Pereira)

Cuenca-born filmmaker Enrique Buleo recently wrapped the shoot for his feature debut, Still Life with Ghosts. The black comedy features an ensemble cast including Consuelo Trujillo (seen recently in Teresa [+see also:
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film profile] and Sister Death), Fernando Sansegundo (the series Alpha Males), Ferran Gadea (HollyBlood), Enric Benavent (the series La Unidad [+see also:
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The film is made up of stories about the residents of a small inland town where believing in paranormal activity is fully accepted. Principal photography began in late September and took place in different locations in Manchuela Conquense, Cuenca (specifically, in Villanueva de la Jara, the director’s place of birth, El Picazo, Casasimarro, Iniesta and Amodóvar del Pinar), Castellón and Valencia.

“Manchuela, which lies halfway between La Mancha and the Levante, has a particular idiosyncrasy that plucks traits from both sources. It shaped my personality, it gifted me with a sense of humour teetering between the absurd and the macabre, and it blessed me with an imagination where rave music, charanga bands, Don Quixote and the most puritanical form of piety all coexist,” states Buleo. “Still Life with Ghosts contains autobiographical elements, which draw inspiration from the surrounding reality and from my inevitable encounters with other human beings. It brings together typical elements of Spanish eccentricity, such as esperpento [theatre of the grotesque], picaresque literature and dark humour, and will paint a unique portrait of Manchuela,” he continues.

Indeed, in the movie, dark comedy, rural drama, absurd humour, magical realism (specifically that from La Mancha) and even science fiction exist side by side. "The movie is a half-comical, half-morbid portrait of some of the most primal and universal fears and desires… After all, it tackles subjects such as the search for one’s identity, the struggle against solitude and fear of the pointlessness of life.”

Still Life with Ghosts is being staged by Spanish outfits Quatre Films and Cuidado con el perro, in co-production with France’s Ikki Films and Serbia’s This and That. It has received support from the ICAA, the Valencian Cultural Institute and Creative Europe – MEDIA. In addition, it boasts the involvement of À Punt Media, Castilla-La Mancha Media and ETuria CLM, following its victory in the feature-film production competition promoted by the Film Commission of the Autonomous Regional Government of Castile-La Mancha. The title triumphed in the When East Meets West Coproduction Forum (see the news) and Abycine Lanza, besides taking part in the Producers Under the Spotlight programme at the Cannes Marché du Film and the Visitors Programme of the Berlinale’s EFM. 

(Translated from Spanish)