La Isla
International title: The Island
Director: Ismael Sordo
Production: To be defined
Script: Ismael Sordo
Production company: To be defined
Duration (estimated): 15′ – 20‘
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, LGTBI+
Budget: 28.554,49 € (approximate)
Synopsis
Samuel is a boy who spends his summer holidays with his parents at the campsite ‘La Isla’ in the north of Spain.
As he seeks to socialise with other children, Samuel finds himself ignored and judged, caught up in a dynamic of replicating behaviours and mannerisms that make him feel excluded. The worst thing: he doesn’t understand why.
Only at night does he manage to occupy the spaces that he observes from a distance the rest of the time. Sleepwalking, he uses them to project his desires and needs for physical expression. However, there is a risk: every time he wakes up from this lethargy, he ends up fainting wherever the night has taken him.
Note of Intent
Some time ago, when I was leaving a driving school practice, I noticed that I modulated my voice every time I got into the car next to my
teacher. Although this was not alien to me, it did awaken something in me: no matter how comfortable I might feel within my own identity
sexual, I was always going to feel tied to all those repressive behaviours that I had been replicating from survival during my childhood.
I remember being at school and tensing my wrists, calculating every detail of the trajectory my arms made as I explained things, the frown that came to my face every time I identified the femininity that would emerge from my body as I watched myself on video.
‘La Isla’ focuses on this kind of repression. The one that silently appears for many LGTBQ+ or LGTBQ+ passing people throughout their childhood. Specifically, I am talking about the scrutiny and identity dysphoria related to the image that one involuntarily projects to the world and that
reinforces from childhood that children like Samuel are subjected to a judgment of gender self-evaluation in which imitation plays an essential role
for social insertion. When the latter fails – as happens in our story – an identity distancing occurs as a result of the tension with the
concept of masculinity.The Island’ focuses on this kind of repression. The one that silently appears for many LGTBQ+ or LGTBQ+ passing people throughout their childhood. Specifically, I am talking about the scrutiny and identity dysphoria related to the image that one involuntarily projects to the world and that
reinforces from childhood that children like Samuel are subjected to a judgment of gender self-evaluation in which imitation plays an essential role
for social insertion. When the latter fails – as happens in our story – an identity distancing occurs as a result of the tension with the
concept of masculinity.
Director
Ismael Sordo (Santander, 1998) is a double graduate in Journalism and Audiovisual Communication from the Carlos III University of Madrid. Thanks to a scholarship from the Carlos III University Foundation and the Ramón Areces Foundation, he was able to study one of those years in Boston, Massachusetts.
After graduating, he has received training in scriptwriting and storytelling, directing, editing and production through the Film and Production Dialogues (DCP) promoted by the Cantabria Film Commission; the SEMILLERU Campus, organised by the Gijón International Film Festival (FICX); and the Escuela Abierta de Cine de Madrid (EAC), where he is currently a student (specialising in directing). At the same time, he is studying the Master’s Degree in Continuing Education in Film and Television Screenwriting at the Carlos III University in collaboration with the screenwriters’ union ALMA.
His new short film, La Mecánica del Cine, is currently in post-production, after receiving a grant from the Government of Cantabria for its production.
Samuel is a boy who spends his summer holidays with his parents at the campsite ‘La Isla’ in the north of Spain.As he seeks to socialise with other children, Samuel finds himself ignored and judged, caught up in a dynamic of replicating behaviours and mannerisms that make him feel excluded. The worst thing: he doesn’t…
Current status of the project
The project is currently in the process of developing and finalising the scriptwriting. During its passage through creation laboratories, the aim is to boost its creative quality, support its financing, and find partners for its production and distribution.
Needs / Objectives
We are looking for production companies that join the project and want to accompany us both in the creative process and in the search for production subsidies (specifically, from the Government of Cantabria and the ICAA) next year. For this reason, we are open to an inter-community co-production model, as we understand that it works as a great opportunity to increase the technical and creative capacity of the work.
