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10.000 KM
A Film by Carlos Marques-Marcet
2014 / Spain / Spanish, English / Drama
99 min / HD / 1.85 / 5.1
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LOGLINE
One year apart, with a continent between them, a couple must rely on modern technology
to keep their relationship alive.
SHORT SYNOPSIS
ALEXANDRA and SERGI make love in their tiny Barcelona apartment. They’ve decided to
have a baby, but find their plans dashed when Alex receives an offer for an artistic
residency in Los Angeles. Understanding this may be Alex’s last chance to re-launch her
photography career, the couple decides to put their plans on hold for a year.
One year apart, with a continent between them, Alex and Sergi must rely on virtual
communication to keep the flame of their relationship alive. But with their realities no
longer shared and the touch of one another gone, the technology that has supposedly
brought the world closer together may just tear them apart.
SYNOPSIS
ALEXANDRA (32) and SERGIO (33) make love in their tiny Barcelona apartment.
Swaddled in their rumpled sheets, they talk about the mind-blowing journey they’ve just
begun. This wasn’t your average Sunday morning lovemaking. They’ve decided to have a
baby. Excited and happy, they proceed with their Sunday morning routines. Sergio makes
breakfast. Alex checks her email, and what she receives could dash their plans: an offer
for a fully-paid artistic residency in Los Angeles, perhaps her last chance to re-launch the
photography career that has been at a standstill since the economic crisis hit the country.
But the grant comes at the worst possible time and gives way to a profound and at times
scathing argument. Can the decision to become parents be shelved so lightly? Is their
relationship strong enough to endure? Are they bold enough to face the challenge?
January. Alex is already settled in Los Angeles. She shows Sergi her new apartment via
video chat. The first weeks are hard on her and Alex constantly leans on the support of her
boyfriend. But the bonds of their relationship now stretch through the video chat
connection, their means of communication limited to a digital experience. They establish
new virtual routines, pushing the bounds of their distance and time difference. They
pretend they still have a life together until they come to a realization about the inherent
contradiction of their attempts; there is a reason for their separation and in order for their
sacrifice to be worth it, Alex needs to go out and explore the bizarre and puzzling city
outside her apartment.
With Sergi’s support, Alex starts to open up to Los Angeles. But as independence filters
into their routines, they begin to lose real contact. The space they hoped to share
dissolves little by little as the cruel reality of their physical distance sinks in. Emails,
Facebook and video chats are soon insufficient and the technology that was supposed to
keep them connected becomes an obstacle for communication. Jealousy and
misunderstandings arise. Sergi no longer comprehends Alex’s new life. He doesn’t
understand the references or know the details. And he feels trapped in the city that was
once their home. He sees his life on pause while she is reshaping her future and falling in
love with a new city.
Sergi explodes when Alex forgets him the day he needed her most. Frustrated and furious,
Sergi accuses Alex of no longer making him a priority in her life. And Alex can’t deny it.
Break-up seems imminent. Unable to handle the pressure, Alex takes off, disappearing
from the map. Hurt, Sergi steps out of his self-imposed prison to reclaim his life. But
instead of healing his wounds, his infidelity just brings him more misery. Alex returns from
her lonely desert voyage determined to save the relationship. They have to give it another
shot. The couple goes back to making plans, pushing aside their doubts. In the midst of
making his plans to spend the summer with her, Alex springs a crazy idea on him: don’t go
back. Stay with her in Los Angeles. But Sergio suspects there is something more to it. And
he is right. Alex has been offered a year-long extension on her residency in order to
expand upon her project. Sergi refuses, tired of putting what he considers their life on hold.
He gives Alex an ultimatum: him or Los Angeles. Alex goes silent. And Sergi understands
that her decision was made long ago.
Summer arrives and Alex works tirelessly on her project. A knock at the door. Alex
absentmindedly opens it only to find Sergi on the other side. She doesn’t understand what
he is doing there and neither does Sergi. But the desperate gesture brings a glimmer of
hope. They embrace and the long lost touch and smell of the other awakens them. But will
their physical re-encounter be enough to bridge the emotional gap created by those 10,000
kilometers?
TECH SPECS
Running Time:
Genre:
Shooting Format:
Aspect Ratio:
Sound:
Production Companies:
With the Participation of:
99 minutes
Drama
Digital (4K)
1.85:1
5.1
Lastor Media, La Panda Productions
TVE, TVC, ICEC, MEDIA and Ymagis
KEY CAST
Alexandra
Sergio
Natalia Tena
David Verdaguer
KEY CREW
Director:
Writers:
Producers:
Editors:
Executive Producers:
Director of Photography:
Production Designer:
Costume Designer:
Sound Designer:
Hair and Make Up:
Carlos Marques-Marcet
Clara Roquet, Carlos Marques-Marcet
Tono Folguera, Jana Díaz Juhl, Sergi Moreno
Juliana Montañés, Carlos Marques-Marcet
Mayca Sanz, Pau Brunet, Danielle Schleif
Dagmar Weaver-Madsen
Laia Ateca
Vinyet Escobar
Jonathan Darch
Jesús Martos
FESTIVALS
SXSW (World Premiere)
Malaga Film Festival (WINNER of 5 prizes including the Golden Biznaga for Best Film)
Dallas International Film Festival
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
This is not just a story of our times; it is a story about our times. Pieces of life portraying a
story that many people of my generation are living, have lived or will live out: the drama of
long distance relationships. Fragments of a fragmented love.
When I left Barcelona some years ago to move to Los Angeles, I had to go through the
difficult experience of living far away from many people I love. Nonetheless, I was lucky
enough to be able to share in the process with friends that were going or had gone through
the same experience. Little by little, these stories started to take shape in my mind and the
characters of Alexandra and Sergi were born, embodying the uncertainties, the inability to
sacrifice and the general confusion of a generation in crisis.
This doesn’t pretend to be a film about “good and bad”, but a small portrait of the
difficulties of building a life together, of what to do with a love that is still alive in a
relationship that seems destined to fail. For Sergi, Alex represents the end of a long road.
Alex, on the contrary, needs the continuous excitement of the journey itself. How do we
come to accept that a relationship can’t sustain itself on love alone?
This film also aims to be an exploration of how the technology that brings us instant
communication with the other side of the world implies the birth of a new way of relating to
one another. For the first time, the basic tools of cinema itself, cameras and screens
(webcams and computer screens) become not just a way to portray the world, but also a
means of communication between one another. Cinema finally places itself between us.
The quandaries of cinema expand to everyday life: What happens off camera over an
online conversation? How do we present ourselves on-screen; what is our self-imposed
mise-en-scene? How does that new filter affect our dialogue? Emails, chats, time
difference. Facing someone will never be the same as facing the image of someone. The
technology that was introduced to us as the ultimate communication tool reveals its dark
side. There is no substitute for love’s dearest senses: touch and smell.
Our intention is to reflect upon this means of communication by creating the sense that we
are witnessing life and to explore this new way of relating to one other by coming face-toface with vivid moments instead of rehashing intellectual premises, thus transporting the
audience through a raw experience as we follow what Emily Dickinson described so well
when she wrote:
Surgeons must be very careful
When they take the knife!
Under their fine incisions
Stirs the Culprit – Life!
WRITER / DIRECTOR’S BIOGRAPHY
Carlos Marques-Marcet
Born in Barcelona, Spain, Carlos Marques-Marcet started developing his unique voice at
an early age. Carlos’s second short film A munt i a vall (The Mountain and the Valley) was
awarded the INJUVE Young Creators Award.
His third piece granted him the honor of participating in an exclusive workshop with
legendary filmmakers Abbas Kiarostami and Victor Erice. It also took him, at age nineteen,
to the Berlinale Berlin Talent Campus. Renowned “Cahiers de Cinema” selected Udols, his
fourth film, as 2008’s Best Short Film.
In 2009, Marques shot his debut feature documentary, De Pizarros y Atahualpas (About
Pizarros and Atahualpas), an honest look at the contradictions in contemporary Peru. After
being granted the prestigious La Caixa scholarship, Carlos Marques-Marcet moved to Los
Angeles in order to study Film and Television in UCLA’s Master of Fine Arts program.
In the U.S., Marques-Marcet has completed many short films including I’ll Be Alone (Los
Angeles International Latino Film Festival, HBO New York Latino International Film
Festvial, Beijing International Film Festival) and Yellow Ribbon, which received among
many other awards, a DGA recognition.
CAST BIOGRAPHIES
Natalia Tena (Alexandra)
Natalia Tena made her acting debut as Ellie in 2004's About A Boy. Born in London to
Spanish parents, she is best known for playing Nymphadora Tonks in the Harry Potter film
series and the wildling Osha in HBO's Game of Thrones. Between acting gigs like
2011's You Instead, this multi-talented performer is also lead vocalist for British band
Molotov Jukebox, in which she also rocks the accordion.
David Verdaguer (Sergio)
David Verdaguer is a well-known face on the Barcelona theatre scene where he has acted
in several productions and is currently an actor in residence at the Teatre Lliure de
Barcelona. On the small screen, Verdaguer is known for his comedy, such as his starring
role in Marcel Barrena’s Four Seasons, and on the big screen in productions like Sònia
Sánchez’s Barcelona, Neutral City and Mar Coll’s Three Days with the Family.
CREW BIOGRAPHIES
Clara Roquet (Co-writer)
Thanks to the prestigious La Caixa scholarship, Clara Roquet is currently studying in
Columbia University’s highly regarded screenwriting Masters program. A regular
collaborator of renowned illustrator Conrad Roset, Roquet graduated in Audiovisual
Communication from Barcelona’s Universitat de Pompeu Fabra and is currently in
development on the next feature film from director Lluis Galter, The Vacationers.
Dagmar Weaver-Madsen (Director of Photography)
Dagmar Weaver-Madsen, a Danish-American, grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area.
She received an MFA from the prestigious UCLA Masters in Cinematography program.
She was also the recipient of the American Society of Cinematographer's William A. Fraker
ASC Heritage Award (more information is available in the May 2011 issue of American
Cinematographer Magazine). She endeavors to make visually striking projects that
compliment great stories and brands. She has worked with Kevin Smith, Alex DeMille,
Dana Turken, Courtney Marsh Myles Sorensen, Kat Coiro, Daniel Lafrentz, Dave Steck,
Laurel Parmet, Tess Sweet, Susana Casares Domingo, Luke Slendebrock, Carlos
Marques Marcet, Blake Martin, Becky Smith, Hazel Meeks, Clint Kenley, Dina
Rosenmeier, Gyula Gazdag, Emily Yoshida, Maggie Tran, Jordan Miller, Milena Pastreich,
Michael Bodie, Silas Howard, Helen Harlan, Rashi Biria, Alex O'Flinn, Alex Diaz, David
Harris, David Vegezzi, Nora Gruber, Anya Leta, Diana Peterson, Christel MIller, Indigo
Wilman, Gabriel Peters-Lazaro, and Nancy Richardson, amongst others.
Juliana Montañés (Editor)
A graduate in Audiovisual Communications from Madrid’s ECAM, specializing in editing,
Montañes’s first work came as an assistant editor on the documentaries Hollywood
Against Franco and Jaime Gil de Biedma: Portrait of a Poet before coming on board as
editor of the 2010 Venice Film Festival-selected Caracremada. Beyond her editing
experience, Montañés was also head of post-production for Sofa Experience
Communication working on spots for such companies as Ikea, Vueling and Banc Sabadell,
among others. Carlos Marqués-Marcet’s Long Distance is her second feature as editor.
Laia Ateca (Production Designer)
A 2007 graduate of the Barcelona film school ESCAC, Laia Ateca’s film work began as an
Art Department intern on Woody Allen’s Vicky Christina Barcelona. Beyond several ad jobs
for such well-known brands as San Miguel and Xperia, she has also been an assistant
production designer on such cinematic titles as this year’s Mindscape and Pablo Berger’s
multiple Goya-winning Blancanieves. Long Distance is her first feature as production
designer.
Jesús Martos (Hair and Make Up)
After his beginnings at the salon, Jesús Martos moved into publicity and film in 2005. Since
then he has been nominated for a Goya and a Gaudí and has worked for such renowned
directors as Woody Allen, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu, Joaquin Oristrell, Agustí
Villaronga, Kike Maillo, Rodrigo Cortes, Pablo Berger, Roger Gual and Xavi Gimenez. His
artistry has touched internationally recognized stars like Robert de Niro, Sigourney
Weaver, Rebecca Hall, Patricia Clarkson, Teri Hatcher, Fionnula Flanagan, and Stephen
Rea as well as celebrated Spanish actors like Marisa Paredes, Candela Peña, Clara
Lago, Maria Valverde, Mario Casas, Amaya Salamanca, Olivia Molina, Jan Cornet, Daniel
Brühl, Lluis Omar and Paco Leon, among others.
Jonathan Darch (Sound Designer)
With a background in music at the School of Contemporary Music in Buenos Aires and the
Aula Conservatorio Liceu in Barcelona, Jonathan Darch’s sound design work can be heard
in such films as: Long Distance (Carlos Marques-Marcet), The Distance and Finisterrae
(Sergi Caballero), Between the Earth and the Sky (Tono Folguera, David Fdez. de Castro,
Román Parrado), Octubre en el Norte (Marcelo Expósito), La Calma (Maximmiliano Viale),
Hamdan and El Mensajero (Martín Solá), and Caracremada (Lluís Galter), among others.
COMPANY BIOGRAPHIES
LASTOR MEDIA is a Barcelona-based production company that is bringing a new
perspective on production in Spain and a fresh voice to its film industry. Headed by
veteran producer Tono Folguera—whose prior credits include the Oscar-nominated
Balseros and the Soanish Film Academy’s Goya Award winners such as the
documentaries Bicicleta, cuchara, manzana and Bucarest, la memoria perdida, the
animated feature Wrinkles, and feature film Vida y color—the company is rounded out by
writer/exec producer Danielle Schleif, whose credits while at HBO include such Oscar
nominees and Sundance winners as Spellbound and Twist of Faith; Sergi Moreno,
executive producer of Caracremada, and Mayca Sanz. Lastor Media strives to scout and
create fiction and non-fiction stories that speak to the audience through innovative
storytelling and filmmaking with a unique vision while bringing solid, internationally-tested
experience in production and development to the table.
Since 2008, LASTOR MEDIA has produced six feature documentaries: Serrat and Sabina
(San Sebastián International Film Festival), Bajarí: Gypsy Barcelona (IDFA, coproduced
with Pompeu Fabra University), environmental festival favorite Between the Earth and the
Sky: The Battle for the Aiguamolls Wetlands, Welcome to Your Family (an Ibermediasupported Spanish-Ecuadorian co-production), 69/78 Prescrit (coproduced with Pompeu
Fabra University), The Kingdom of Mr. Edhi (MEDIA supported, winner of the Silver FIPA
for Creative Documentary and the inaugural Téléprix Award, Full Frame Doc Fest official
selection), as well as the documentary short Donde nunca pasa nada. In the realm of
fiction shorts, Lastor Media co-produced Carlos Marques-Marcet’s The Yellow Ribbon
which won the John Frankenheimer Award and premiered in Europe at the Málaga Film
Festival.
Long Distance is LASTOR MEDIA’s first feature film, the vision of up-and-coming director
Carlos Marques-Marcet and starring Natalia Tena (Game of Thrones, the Harry Potter
series) and Spanish actor David Verdaguer.
LA PANDA PRODUCTIONS LLC is a production company based in Los Angeles that is
made up of eleven Spanish film industry professionals. The company currently has several
feature films in different stages of productions.
A Texas Story has already commenced the financing process. Written by David MartinPorras and Julia Fontana, the Ibermedia Program selected the script for participation in the
2nd Latin-American Scriptwriters Symposium celebrated in Mexico City this past June.
Based on this script, the company produced the short film Inside the Box starring Summer
Glau, Regina King and Wilson Bethel. The short film was awarded Best Spanish Short film
at the SEMINCI International Film Festival and was in official selection at festivals around
the world.
The company is in pre-production on the horror film Sinkhole, directed by Andrés
Rosende, and is currently developing projects for other Spanish directors based in the US
and Latin America.
LA PANDA PRODUCTIONS co-produced Open Windows, directed by Nacho Vigalondo
and starring Elijah Wood and Sasha Gray. The film is a coproduction with Apaches
Entertainment, producers of movies like The Impossible or Intruders.
Long Distance is a co-production with Lastor Media, executive produced by Pau Brunet
(Inside the Box, Open Windows) and Jana Díaz Juhl (Cry Now).