Filmax Boards ‘The Monster of Many Noses,’ A Smart Genre Movie Debut From ‘Ministry of Time’ Helmer Abigail Schaaff (EXCLUSIVE)

John Hopewell
·2 min read

Filmax has boarded “The Monster of Many Noses,” which marks yet another feature debut of a Barcelona-based female director, Abigail Schaaff, here in a movie which blends fantasy genre and local lore to large social point.

Filmax, which also handles distribution in Spain, will show first images of the film at the American Film Market.

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Connecting 1960s Spain to its 1930s, the decade of Spain’s Civil War whose atrocities were silenced as the price of transition to democracy in 1970s Spain, “The Monster of Many Noses” (“L’home dels lassos”)  is set in 1968 in a small village in the mountains.

Three children try to escape the so-called Man of Many Noses, a figure in Catalan lore who hunts down children who have told too many lies on the last day of the year. “But the children aren’t the only ones who fear him. Lies from the past can also be smelled,” says the synopsis.

“In ‘The Monster Of Many Noses,’ the combination of real events and mythology have the viewer asking themself what is real and what is legend. At what point did we leave the truth behind and construct the myth?” Schaaff asked.

“We thought that the ‘Monster of Many Noses’ was an ideal character to reclaim our own culture and legends through an enthralling story with fantasy elements,” added producer Nuria Velasco.

Written by Eric Moral and producer Velasco, both behind TV3 series “Buga Buga,” the film stars Pablo Derqui(“Burning Body”) and Ivan Benet (“Riot Police”), backed by a strong supporting cast.

Barcelona’s Aguacate & Calabaza Films, headed by Jorge Velasco, a line producer on TV3 series “Buga Buga,” the Madrid-Valencia based Turanga Films, behind Lucía Alemany ’s “The Innocence” and Iciar Bollaín’s “Rosa’s Wedding,” and Valencia’s Inaudita.

The film shot at often stunning locations in rural Catalonia, such as the village of Mura, the chapel at Sant Julià d’Uixols de Castellterçol, the Riudarenes cave, the forest and Roman bridge of Gualba and the Can Plantada country estate, one of the jewels at the village of L’Ametlla del Vallès.

Schaaff has already come to notice directing episodes of some of Spain’s biggest TV series in recent years, such as “The Ministry of Time” and “Cuéntame.”

“This is a strong, beautiful film, with great potential. The film uses a formula that has been proved to be successful in the past: Taking a deep-rooted legend, well-known within Catalan folklore, and turning it into a genre story that will appeal to a much wider audience,” said Ivan Díaz, Filmax head of international.

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