Synopsis
Berta is an 80-year-old widow who tries to escape from her only son’s physical and psychological abuse. She lives alone, she does not dare to go out and she can only count on Mouna’s help twice a week to do the household shopping.
Everything changes when Haru enters her life: a small dog that has recently wandered into the house and reminds her very much of a puppy her late husband Jaime had given her.
Usually, short films are not as popular as feature films. Even so, they tell stories that can generate a big impact in a short space of time. For this reason, the most important then is to suggest things, not only show it.
Broken Threads was challenge for its director and scriptwriter, Josep Oller, because his previous short films were comedies and fantasy films, so it was his debut in the genre of drama. Despite this, he did not fail to incorporate touches of his own style in some scenes with a comic tone.
The entire Broken Threads team was able to coordinate for this project, from direction and production to cinematography, art direction and costume design. One of the aspects in which this unity is most evident is in the treatment of colour, with yellow tones for the scenes of the past, cooler and darker tones for the present, and greens in the final scenes, which helps to sent a message of hope. The choice of yellow for the flashbacks is clearly influenced by Denis Villeneuve’s film “Enemy”, with the idea of suggest a certain sense of unreality, because memories are not a representation of reality, they are just an image of a past reality. On the other hand, the choice of cold, achromatic tones for the present is inspired by films such as Ken Loach’s “Ladybird, Ladybird” and other works of the same director. In addition, this idea of exploring the relationship between an elderly person and a dog is based on the film “Umberto D.” by Vittorio De Sica.
Another fundamental pillar of this project is the contribution of the actress Montse Ribadellas, who was particularly involved in the short film. For this reason, she has received numerous awards at international festivals as best actress for this short film. In the cast, she is accompanied by Miquel Sitjà, Maimouna Sabaly, Toni Sevilla, Josep Maria Oller and the friendly dog Haru.
Broken Threads is a Films en Off production that was born from a collaboration with the association Huellas Compartidas and was sponsored by Dingonatura, and supported of the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya. Other companies and administrations also participated in this film, such as Gavà City Council, El Rincó de Milú, Sweet Drops, Bio Medical Logistics, Carrero Films and Textil Red, among others, as well as the support of the Verkamistes, who contributed to make this project a reality.
