The legend of the Order of the Axe, a military order exclusively formed by women, is a fascinating and inspiring story, still remembered with pride in Tortosa, Catalonia. It is a brief but decisive chapter in the formation of the modern Catalonia and all of current Spain. Covered in mistery, the Order of the Axe is a mixture of myth, legend and History.

Our mission is to reenact the story in a version that will be somewhat brief, but emphasizing and extending it concerning it's collective empowerement of women aspect. It will be filmed in the Catalan language.

Aferwards, we wish to use this short film as a pilot for a feature film, that can reach all possible movie screens around the World.

Sinopsis

Tortosa, 1149. Exploiting the fact that Count Ramón Berenguer IV of Barcelona is besieging Lleida, a moorish army sieges the unprotected city of Tortosa.

Marina is married to Pere, a Knight member of the city council. She struggles to be useful and inspiring to him. She realizes that news have come from Barcelona that they will not be receiving military aid, and the council is preparing for defeat.

She meets very different women that suffer the siege, including Teresa, a mother devoted to her children, Ruth, a widow that treasures her liberty and Aldonza, the conservative wife of the Lord of Tortosa Guillem Ramón de Montcada. They gather the rest of the women of the city to convince them to not stay with their arms crossed.

The Cast

This short film will rest, above all, on the performances of it's extraordinary cast, which includes:

Montserrat Ocaña

Marina de Miravalle

Member, actress and founder of “Tèquina Teatre” Company. In 2011, she starred next to Rosa Nicolás in the short "In front of the Spider", directed by Marc Nadal. Finalist in Creative Commons BccN. Selected for the Best Actress prize in the "Por amor al arte" Short Festival.

Mercé Montllonch

Aldonza

She has a long carreer in television, commercials and TV series such as TV3's La Riera and TV10's Punt de Trobada. One 1st prize actor for her starring role in

VOSTÈ NO ES AQUÍ webseries. She has participated in the feature films "Asmodexia", directed by Marc Carreté (premiered in SITGES Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic), and "Gabriel" by Benjamin Chimoy.

Teresa Roig

Ruth

She is a versatile actress with dozens of credits in theater, and many other films and television series. She has a strong academic background in theater in general and, especially, acting and dance. Her career includes dozens of stage appearances, and another dozen film and television performances.

Isabel Llanos

Teresa

Psychologist and coach by trade, she fell in love with acting as a powerful prism of human emotions. After 21 short films and a feature film, she has shared the guide of people like Javier Galitó-Cava, John Strasberg, Boris Rotestein, Santiago Zannou.

Josep Maria Alejandre

Guillem Ramón de Montacada

Arisen from amateur Catalan theater. Awarded as a leading actor on stage, he has participated in TV shows and in a hundred domestic and international film projects. He is also dedicated to dubbing and voice for videographic projects, video games, dramatized stories ...

Albert Nualart

Pere

He has consolidated his acting career by participating in more than a hundred short films and some feature films. He has also had experience in theater and a long list of publicity modelling roles, music-videos and other appearances on TV3 channel, such as the famed series La Riera.

Specialized in tv hosting and on-screen fighting, he balances his carreer with the world of professional sports.

The Team

Director and Screenwriter

Alejandro Alcántara

Holds a bachelor's degree in Communication Sciences, specializing in Audiovisual Production.

He has been a screenwriter for 5 short films and director of 3 of them. The last one won a local film festival and was in a special selection of the International Film Festival Monterrey, 2006.

Currently publishes under the brand Piedramuda, Web series "Best of the worst Mexican cinema" with 43 episodes so far, and the philosophy, science and humanism series Echoes of the Universe.

General Producer

Ricard Izquierdo

Location manager in various audiovisual projects, has collaborated on a fusion of video and theater for the 5th anniversary of the PAHs in Badalona.

As a part of Open Art Association, he has made two short films exhibited at the Barcelona film library, the library of Madrid, the CCCB and Cinemes Girona museum (among others), and one was selected for the festival Filmets Badalona.

Asociate Producer

Oriol Fort

A restless spirit, he has done theater, radio, film and television. He recently worked as an actor in the play "La Historia de un árbol" by Carolina Rivas.

He is currently preparing his first short of a project in which he is a screenwriter, actor and producer, and outlining the plot of a detective series.

Art Director

Rocío Alvárez

She has a degree in Communication Sciences with a master in Communication and Human Resources. Self-employed in the making and editing of audiovisuals.

As a part of Open Art Association, she made two short films as part of Videovalores program. She worked as a second assistant director on the play "La historia del un àrbol" Carolina Rivas.

About your contributions

Your contributions will be the main source of funding for this film.

They will enable us to rent and build the movie sets, rent and create both props and costumes needed.

We will also move from Barcelona to Tortosa and back, and shoot the ambitious final scene of the film, involving walls under siege, spears, rocks, swords and, of course, Axes!

If the desired amount is exceeded No worries! Keep on giving, so we can improve and hire more props, include more extras with costumes, add special effects sequences, send the short to more festivals and even give a deserved compensation to actors and crew.

About the rewards

We wish not only to provide reminders of the film, but also to extend the experience of it's story to our patrons, both with the DVDs and Pere's letter, and the opportunities to participate in a visible way.

Link: Will be sent by e-mail.

DVD: Will be sent by standard mail..

Letter: Learn more about the main characters, what motivates them and what torments them.

Tour "La llegenda de l’Orde de l’Atxa"

Participate in the raffle of 10 slots in a special tour with theatrical recreation, organized by our sponsor Gubiana dels Ports. You can enjoy a poetic retelling of the legend, just as it is rememberd in Tortosa, and walk through the same places as the protagonists.

Shooting: Extras that were also patrons and earned a special photo or appearance, will be able to attend a day of shooting either in Barcelona or Tortosa (different days). We will contact you as soon as possible to program your presence.

Premiere: There will be at least two: one in Tortosa and another in Barcelona. We will be very glad to share such an exciting moment with you.

Axe Pin: A beautiful design with a long tradition in Tortosa:

Calendar

The project is in the pre-production phase: the wardrobe is already chosen, props are being selected and made, sets are being designed.

If we achieve our funding goal, we can continue with all purchases and leases, and we will shoot on the 8,9,10th of July of 2016.

The prizes will be given during the shoot itself (a pair of rewards concern appearances and photos), as well as during the two weeks following the premiere of the short. This will happen around the 30th of July of 2016. Some of the rewards will be sent by mail, electronic and physical.

Any issue involving international shipments, etc. we will gladly solve on a case by case basis.

More Information

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