La Mort Petita

Synopsis

Adela, a single mother, takes care of her mother, Mercè, who has suffered from dementia for some time. Immersed in a frenetic rhythm that does not allow her to think about herself, she will be forced for the first time to face her fears and weaknesses, brought on by the strange obsession that her mother has: to go up a mountain before she dies.

The project

La Mort Petita is a short film directed by Júlia Coldwell Serra that portrays the difficulty of accepting that the people around us are getting older. Especially when it comes to someone very close like a mother is. All this within the framework of the imperceptible advance of a disease such as dementia that, little by little, takes over the person and, as if it were a small void expanding day by day, ends up causing a total distancing from whom they had been in a past time.

From all that, we want to focus on a very specific moment and this is the first moment in which a person says or does something that, however insignificant it may be, indicates that something is not quite right. As if it were an unconscious warning, which makes you realize that from here on you will no longer be able to go back. Somehow, this causes you to accept this moment as a first death and, from here, you begin to accumulate small deaths that inevitably and silently prepare you for when it would really happen. In the short film, this first death is portrayed when Adela comes across her mother walking down the road at dawn. From this starting point, it allows us to discover the relationship between the two of them.

When treating this story we want to propose a simple realization in a realistic and intimate tone. Focused on making an honest portrait of the protagonist as a working woman based on the relationship she has with her mother and her son. Being able to transmit this isolation and self-deception will be the greatest challenge when it comes to transferring this story to the screen. For this reason, silences, gazes and stillness will play a very important role when building the scenes. The tone moves between drama and comedy, in a subtle, austere and contained way.

Characters and casting

Adela (45) is a humble, hardworking single mother. When she is not in the factory, where she works as an operator, she takes care of her mother, Mercè, who has recently begun to show signs of dementia, and her adopted son, Quim.

Adela likes to have everything under control and, hermetic as she is, she has a hard time letting herself be helped. She lives at a hectic pace to avoid stopping to think about the problems that really sadden her and to show her vulnerable side.

In this story Adela will be forced for the first time to face her fears, brought on by her mother's curious obsession.

We are especially excited to announce that the actress who will give life to the character of Adela will be Anna Alarcón, an actress nominated for this year's Gaudí Awards for her performance in the film "The Offering" (Ventura Durall, 2020).

It is worth mentioning the fact that in the teaser we collaborated with the wonderful actress Annabel Castan.

Mercè (70), of apparent fragility, is not very aware that she suffers from the disease. Dementia has provoked in her a strange obsession: going up a mountain before she dies. The mountain in question is on the outskirts of her town and she has gotten into the habit of escaping from home before the sun rises to head off to her goal.

The actress who will play the character of Mercè will be Neli Lladó. An actress with whom we collaborated in the teaser of the short film.

Quim (8), Adela's son, is a very witty pre-adolescent for his age, and although he is not very talkative, he has great complicity with his grandmother. He also has a small obsession with the squirrel that has begun to inhabit the pine tree in their garden.

Currently, we are still looking to cast a child to play the character of Quim.

Miquel (30) is the petrol station worker in the town where the plot takes place. This character stands out for his naturalness, innocence and charisma since, due to his work position, he is used to dealing with people. However, the fact he works at a gas station on the outskirts of the town implies that he is a character who lives on the fringes of society. This is why, he presents a certain peculiarity when communicating with his surroundings.

About the rewards

Please note: If you live outside Spain we might need to offer alternatives, due to the cost of shipping of the physical rewards. Contact us for details!

The design of the t-shirt and tote bag that some rewards include will be made with the collaboration of the artist Íria Rodon Casale, from Valls, who has made the illustrations specifically for this story. We will post the final designs on our social media accounts and on this page in the coming weeks.

The poster will be designed by the artist Lucia Planas, who will use a mixture of plastic and digital techniques in its elaboration. Copies of this will be made in A3 size. As in the previous case, the final design will also be published on our social media accounts and on this page.

As for the postcards, they can be both still photographs that will be taken during the filming by the members of the team, as well as stills from the short film or even illustrations inspired by the story. These will be sent in physical format. In the case of obtaining the reward of the digital dossier, all these photographs, among others, will also be included.

- 5 euros: Your name will appear in the credits of the short film.

- 10 euros: Your name will appear in the credits of the short film + we will send you a private link to view the short film

- 15 euros: Your name in the credits + Private link to view the short film + We send you the script and an exclusive digital dossier of the shoot, with photographs of it + A postcard of "La Mort Petita"

- 25 euros: Your name in the credits + Private link to view the short film + We send you the script and an exclusive digital dossier of the shoot, with photographs of it + Postcards of "La Mort Petita"

- 35 euros: Your name in the credits + Private link to view the short film + We send you the script and an exclusive digital dossier of the shoot, with photographs of it + Postcards of "La Mort Petita" + A tote bag with a design inspired by "La Mort Petita"

- 50 euros: Your name in the credits + Private link to view the short film + We send you the script and an exclusive digital dossier of the shoot, with photographs of it + Postcards of "La Mort Petita" + A tote bag or t-shirt with a design of "La Mort Petita" + link to a playlist inspired by the short.

- 75 euros: Your name in the credits + Private link to view the short film + We send you the script and an exclusive digital dossier of the shoot, with photographs of it + Postcards of "La Mort Petita" + A tote bag or t-shirt with a design of "La Mort Petita" + link to a playlist inspired by the short + Poster of the short film in A3 size

- 100 euros: Your name in the credits + Private link to view the short film + We send you the script and an exclusive digital dossier of the shoot, with photographs of it + Postcards of "La Mort Petita" + A tote bag or t-shirt with a design of "La Mort Petita" + link to a playlist inspired by the short + Poster of the short film in A3 size + Personalized thank you video from the entire team.

- 200 euros: Your name in the credits + Private link to view the short film + We send you the script and an exclusive digital dossier of the shoot, with photographs of it + Postcards of "La Mort Petita" + A tote bag and t-shirt with a design of "La Mort Petita" + link to a playlist inspired by the short + Poster of the short film in A3 size + personalized thank you video from the entire team.

- 300 euros: If you have an institution, bar, cinema or cultural entity in Catalonia and would like to support the project, this reward includes the screening of the short film at the place of your convenience + A discussion by the director and other members of the team.

In the case of not having suitable space and you wish to contribute this generous amount, you will receive all the rewards that we have mentioned above and we will include you in the credits as an Executive Producer of the project.

About us

The technical team of "La Mort Petita" is made up of a group of young people from ESCAC who are working with great enthusiasm, desire and love to be able to tell this story. Below we indicate the roles that each of the members will carry out:

Director Júlia Coldwell

Writers Jordi Tortosa and Júlia Coldwell

Assistant director Jordi Sanz

Direction of actors Lucia Romero

Head of Production Gerard Guilló

Production Manager Gabriel Mata

Director of photography Pere Girbau

Camera assistant Mar Vidal

Gaffer Júlia Medina

Electric Fèlix Armengol

Art directior Mariona Martínez

Art Assistant Alicia Schaeffer

Editor Joana Bertran

Script Ricard Such

Director and sound design Guillem Giró

Sound assistant Martina Vilella

DIT Xavier Prim

What will we use your contributions for?

As a project accepted by the ESCAC selection jury we are assigned an endowment but it is not enough to cover all the expenses of the shooting. For this reason, we need your help to make it possible.

The money will be distributed, firstly, to improving the photography equipment. Secondly, for the art department, to be able to modify or adjust the spaces where we will shoot and thus make them more akin to what the story asks for.

Finally, a larger part will be allocated to production costs, as we will have to transfer the whole technical and artistic team to Valls. We will also have to cover transportation, lodging and daily subsistence for the entire five days of filming.

The chart below shows the estimated breakdown of costs:

If you want to support "La Mort Petita" you can do it in two ways:

• The first way with no financial commitment is by sharing the link of the campaign or of the Instagram account with your acquaintances and family. In this way, it helps us to disseminate and give us visibility.

• The second way is by being a patron of the project through this page. To do this, you have to choose one of the rewards that we have explained previously, depending on what you can afford or wish to contribute to the project. We will only receive that money if we reach our goal. If this is the case, once the Verkami campaign is finished, the amount that you have decided will be taken from your account and we will send you the rewards according to the established schedule.

Planning schedule

- Pre-production: The pre-production of the short film started in October 2020 and will last until the week before filming. That is the week of May 17th 2021.

- Shooting: It will take place from May 26th to 30th of this year.

- Post-production: It will take place from June to August 2021, which will be divided between the post-production of editing, sound and colour.

- Premiere: The short film will be released in September, the day is yet to be determined. From there we hope to start a festival route.

As for the rewards, we will deliver them once we finish the short film. That is, during the months of October and November 2021.

Social media

To be informed about all the news of the project and to be able to spread the word, follow our Instagram account at @lamortpetita.

For any questions you can also contact us by email at [email protected]

To finish, we would like to say that any contribution, no matter how small, will be welcomed and of great help. On the part of the whole team, we just want to say thank you, whether you can make a contribution or simply if you spread the word. Be that as it may, we are very excited that you are part of this project.

Thank you very much and a big hug,

"La Mort Petita" team.