04/06/2024 - The Spanish actress and singer is back in front of the camera in the fourth film directed by Argentinian filmmaker Marina Seresesky, co-starring Manu Ríos

Director Marina Seresesky, actor Manu Ríos and actress-singer Ana Belén on the set of Islas

Islas is the new feature film by the Spanish-based Argentinian Marina Seresesky after Let the Dance Begin [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (which screened at last year’s Malaga Film Festival, winning the Audience Award), Lo nunca visto [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and The Open Door [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], a comedy that competed in Transylvania (awarded Best Film for the audience) and other international film festivals. This film marks the return to the big screen of actress and singer Ana Belén, who we last saw in The Queen of Spain [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fernando Trueba
film profile], although she has always been connected to cinema, as this year she presented the Goya awards alongside Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo.

The co-star of Islas is Manu Vega, who has appeared in films such as Lobo feroz [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Con los años que me quedan [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and the Mexican film Un retrato de familia, among others. In supporting roles are Goya winner (for Quién te cantará [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carlos Vermut
film profile]) Eva Llorach and Jorge Usón, who starred in recent series such as Las largas sombras and Galgos [+see also:
series review
series profile]. The film has just been shot on location in Puerto de la Cruz, on the Canary Island of Tenerife.

According to Ana Belén, "my character is a woman with a very clear idea in her head... however, in two days her life will change. There are many powerful and emotional scenes, strong on an emotional level, because the film is about the meeting of solitudes. Marina Seresesky comes from the world of acting, so it's wonderful to work with her. There’s a great understanding in telling this story through the actors. And with Islas I face a great new challenge, because no matter how many years I’ve worked, the challenge is not minimal... on the contrary, it is greater," concludes the actress of Spanish audiovisual classics such as The Turkish Passion, The Court of the Pharaoh and Demons in the Garden.

Written by its director, Islas is set in the once splendid Hotel Paradise, now run-down, decadent and old-fashioned. While its few employees and guests live together in deep apathy and disillusion, the past and the future of its two protagonists merge in the alternative reality offered by the establishment's all-inclusive.

With this film Seresesky explores the theme of loneliness, "we are all islands in a society that looks without seeing, where empathy is a declining value, and we believe that a chasm separates us from the other, from the one who is not like us. In this story, two people meet despite their differences, their wounds, their silences... and we will witness the explosion of two volcanoes that have been dormant for a long time."

Islas is produced by E-media Canary, in association with  AF Films, Match Point, Meridional Producciones and BTF Media. It is executive produced by Frank Ariza, Félix Rodríguez and Álvaro Lavín.

(Translated from Spanish by Vicky York)