Estrany riu (Strange River)

Sixteen-year-old Dídac and his family are spending the summer holidays on a cycling trip along the Danube. An unexpected encounter with another boy changes the course of the journey. His enigmatic presence awakens new feelings in Dídac and disrupts his relationship with his family.

Estrany riu was born from the trips I took with my family by bicycle along different rivers in Europe. I wanted to make a film that narrates the uniqueness of those journeys: life in campsites and hostels, moments of rest by the river, the heat, the sound of birds and wind, the freezing water, the rain, the rhythm of the bicycle. To capture those moments, I’ve observed over so many years, in a state of constant transformation, through a camera that moves and flows without pause — like water. A river: the Danube — fascinating and mysterious — that changes like a character in itself, like a sixteen-year-old teenager: Dídac.
Adolescence, to me, feels like a cinematic subgenre. It is a vital stage in which one’s perspective on the world and oneself changes, and cinema — as an art of time, of ellipsis, and of constant transformation — lends itself particularly well to that transition. Our goal was to narrate it from the perspective of a young person and to ask how an adolescent today experiences these changes. Even though the primary point of view is his, it is not the only one: the family accompanies him, motivates him, and is also an essential part of his process.
It is a film about family, and about emotional education from parents to children — and vice versa: what parents can learn from their children. But it is also a film about a brother, Biel, two years younger, who perceives and tries to understand the state of change Dídac is undergoing. Estrany riu is a tribute to my family — a way of showing the upbringing I had, and of portraying the vocation and passion of parents who pass on life and art to their children.

PRODUCTION 1:
ZuZú Cinema - Xavi Font
Homenatge a la Vellesa, 7
25250 Bellpuig (Lleida), Spain
Tel: +34 652 419 683
E-mail: albert@zuzucinema.com
Web: http://www.zuzucinema.com Social Media: @zuzucinema – Instagram

PRODUCTION 2:
Miramemira - Andrea Vázquez
Rúa do Home Santo, 45
15703 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Tel: +34 667 75 54 84
E-mail: andrea@miramemira.com
Web: http://www.miramemira.com Social Media: @miramemira_ - Instagram

PRODUCTION 3:
Schuldenberg Films - Sophie Ahrens, Fabian Altenried, Kristof Gerega
Dresdener Str. 8
10999 Berlin, Germany
Tel: +49 30 55149686
E-mail: contact@schuldenbergfilms.com
Web: http://www.schuldenbergfilms.com
Social Media: @schuldenbergfilms - Instagram

WORLD SALES:
Films Boutique - Jean-Christophe Simon
Köpenicker Str. 184
10997 Berlin, Germany
Tel: +49 30 69537850
E-mail: contact@filmsboutique.com
Web: http://www.filmsboutique.com
Social Media: @filmsboutique - Instagram

PRESS OFFICE:
Jon Rushton - Critical PR
11 Beechwood Grove
BD18 4JS Shipley, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 7969837242
E-mail: jon@critical-pr.com