‘EL 47’: Production Starts On The Mediapro Studio Historical Pic From ‘Mediterraneo’ Director Marcel Barrena

Zac Ntim
·2 min read
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EL 47, the latest feature from Spanish production powerhouse Mediapro Studio, is kicking into gear with cameras set to roll on the pic in Barcelona in the coming days.

Directed by Marcel Barrena (Mediterraneo: The Law of the Sea), the pic is billed as a “tribute to the working class and to the men and women who built our cities, not only physically but also culturally.” The pic tells the story of Manolo Vital, a bus driver who helped create modern Barcelona during the city’s 1970s boom. Barrena co-wrote the pic with Alberto Marini (El desconocido).

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Synopsis reads: In the 1960s and 70s Spain, rural Barcelona was built, for the most part, by immigrants from Extremadura and Andalusia who, although they had built the neighborhoods with their bare hands, were still not considered part of the city. Their homes didn’t even have running water or electricity. Tired of hearing the City Council saying that public transport cannot reach the area because the streets are too narrow and unsafe, bus driver Manolo Vital, at the wheel of bus El 47, sets out to prove the authorities wrong.

Three-time Goya Award winner Eduard Fernández plays Vital in the pic, with Jaume Roures producing and Mediapro CEO Laura Fernandez Espeso and Javier Méndez as executive producers.

“Playing Manolo is a great responsibility because he is someone highly respected among his neighbors and living proof that one single person can change many things,” Fernández said. “I’m delighted to be making a film about emigration and social struggle at a time like the present, in which we must continue to defend rights. I wanted to talk about the realities of Barcelona, to work on a story largely in Catalan and with The Mediapro Studio.”

Joining Fernández are Clara Segura (The Sea Inside), Zoe Bonafonte (Scandal. Story of an Obsession), and Carlos Cuevas (Smiley). The cast is rounded out by Salva Reina (Con quién viajas), Aimar Vega (Modelo 77), and Vicente Romero (Intemperie), with a cameo from David Verdaguer, winner of a Goya award for Summer 1993.

“El 47 is the story of how one ordinary man can change the life of a neighborhood with a seemingly simple, unassuming action: to prove that a bus can reach Torre Baró. Marcel Barrena tells the story of Manolo Vital with the same simplicity”, said Roures.

Filming on El 47 will take place at locations across Barcelona, including the neighborhood of Torre Baró. The film is produced in association with Televisió de Catalunya and RTVE and with support from the ICEC. The Mediapro Studio Distribution is on international sales.

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