''Vasil'' is a 2022 Spanish-Bulgarian comedy-drama film written and directed by Avelina Prat in her directorial feature debut, which stars

Ivan Barnev Ivan Barnev ( bg, Иван Бърнев; born 15 July 1973) is a Bulgarian actor. He is best known for his performance as Jan Dítě in ''I Served the King of England'' (2006), as well as his frequent collaborations with filmmakers Kristina Groze ...

(as the title character),

Karra Elejalde Carlos Elejalde Garay (born 10 October 1960) better known as Karra Elejalde, is a Spanish actor and occasional filmmaker. Biography Carlos Elejalde Garay was born on 10 October 1960 in Vitoria-Gasteiz. He developed his early acting career on i ...

, and

Alexandra Jiménez Alexandra Jiménez Arrechea (born 4 January 1980) is a Spanish actress. She became popular for her role as África Sanz in the sitcom ''Los Serrano''. She starred in the TV series ''La pecera de Eva'', broadcast between 2010 and 2011. Between 201 ...

alongside

Susi Sánchez Asunción Sánchez Abellán (born March 21, 1955), known as Susi Sánchez, is a Spanish theater, film, and television actress. Career Susi Sánchez is best known for her roles in the Vicente Aranda film '' Mad Love'', where she gives life to Qu ...

, and Sue Flack.

Plot

The plot follows the relation of friendship developed between Vasil (an intelligent and charismatic Bulgarian immigrant, as well as skilled player of

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

and

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

) and Alfredo, a retired and widowed gruffy architect who welcomes the former into his house, amazement of Luisa (Alfredo's daughter as well as translator and

bibliophile Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. A bibliophile or bookworm is an individual who loves and frequently reads and/or collects books. Profile The classic bibliophile is one who loves to read, admire and collect books, often ama ...

) notwithstanding.

Cast

Production

A Spanish-Bulgarian co-production, the film was produced by Diferente Films AIE and Distinto Films alongside Activist 38. and it had the participation of

RTVE The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española, S.A. (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española or RTVE, is the state-owned public corporation that assumed in 2007 the indirect management of the Spanish public radio and television service know ...

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso *Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala *Channel 3 (Algeria), a public Algerian TV channel owned by EPTV ...

, and and support from ICAA, IVC, , and Creative Europe's

MEDIA Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...

. Shooting locations included

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

, Sueca,

Silla Silla or Shilla (57 BCE – 935 CE) ( , Old Korean: Syera, Old Japanese: Siraki2) was a Korean kingdom located on the southern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula. Silla, along with Baekje and Goguryeo, formed the Three Kingdoms of K ...

and

Puerto de Sagunto Puerto de Sagunto (Spanish name; ca, Port de Sagunt) is a Spanish locality pertaining to Sagunto (Valencian Community, Spain), which is located at the mouth of the Palancia river and in the north of the province of Valencia. It is the largest urb ...

. Santiago Racaj worked as cinematographer whereas Mónica Bernuy took over art direction.

Release

''Vasil'' had its world premiere at the

Warsaw Film Festival Warsaw Film Festival ( pl, Warszawski Festiwal Filmowy, abbreviated as WFF) is an annual film festival held every October in Warsaw, Poland which previews new films of all genres, including documentaries from all around the world. The festival ha ...

. Its festival run also included the

Valladolid International Film Festival The Valladolid International Film Festival, popularly known as Seminci (short for ; ), is a film festival held annually in Valladolid, Spain. First held in 1956 as ('Valladolid Religious Film Week'), the Seminci is one of the longest-standing fi ...

(Seminci) and the Mostra de Valencia. Originally included in the Seminci's 'Meeting Point' slate, the film was included in the festival's official selection instead upon the disqualification of

Jaime Chávarri Jaime Chávarri (born 20 March 1943) is a Spanish film director and screenwriter, best known for his films ''El desencanto'' and ''Bicycles Are for the Summer, Las bicicletas son para el verano''. Life and career Chávarri comes from a prom ...

's ''La manzana de oro''. Distributed by

Filmax Filmax International is a Spanish production company, motion picture production company and film distributor based in Barcelona, and one of Spain's largest integrated film and television groups. It produced the Rec (film), ''REC'' horror series, ...

, it was theatrically released in Spain on 4 November 2022.

Reception

Carlos Marañón of ''

Cinemanía ''Cinemanía'' is a Spanish language monthly film magazine based in Madrid, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)( ...

'' rated the "spoken and delayed film featuring an original rhythm of its own" with 3 out of 5 stars, considering that even if the profusion of certain situations can become somewhat repetitive, the pause and the acting work "leave a strange but addictive peace, very uncommon in recent cinema". Elsa Fernández-Santos of ''

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

'' deemed Prat's debut feature to be a "kind story of friendship", otherwise featuring elements of ''

costumbrista ''Costumbrismo'' (sometimes anglicized as costumbrism, with the adjectival form costumbrist) is the literary or pictorial interpretation of local everyday life, mannerisms, and customs, primarily in the Hispanic scene, and particularly in the 19t ...

'' comedy and autobiographical tones. Mariana Hristova of ''

Cineuropa The MEDIA sub-programme of Creative Europe or simply Creative Europe MEDIA (formerly The MEDIA Programme of the European Union) is designed to support the European film and audiovisual industries. Budget The goal of programmers is to increase the ...

'' highlighted Elejalde and Barnev for their "organic performance of the graceful nuances in the communication between two people who represent opposing universes", while adding that the indoor settings and warm tones manage to create an "intimate atmosphere".

Accolades

, - , rowspan = "10" align = "center" , 2022 , , 67th

, , Best Actor , , Karra Elejalde & Ivan Barnev , , , , , - , rowspan = "8" , 5th

Berlanga Awards The Berlanga Awards ( va, Premis Berlanga; es, Premios Berlanga, links=no), originally known as Valencian Audiovisual Awards (), are the main film awards of the Valencian Community, Spain, presented by the (AVAV) and the (IVC), and celebrated a ...

, , colspan = "2" , Best Film , , , , rowspan = "8" , , - , Best Director , , Avelina Prat , , , - , Best Screenplay , , Avelina Prat , , , - , Best Original Score , , Vincent Barrière , , , - , Best Sound , , Iván Martínez Rufat , , , - , Best Production Supervision , , Lorena Lluch , , , - , Best Supporting Actress , , Susi Sánchez , , , - , Best Costume Design , , Giovanna Ribes , , , - ,

15th Gaudí Awards The 15th Gaudí Awards ceremony, organised by the Catalan Film Academy, will be held on 22 January 2023 at the MNAC's Oval Room. It will be hosted by . Background The awards added three new categories, namely that of Best New Director, Best A ...

, , Best New Director , , Avelina Prat , , , , , - , rowspan = "2" align = "center" , 2023 , , rowspan = "2" ,

10th Feroz Awards The 10th ceremony of the Premios Feroz, presented by the Asociación de Informadores Cinematográficos de España, will talke place at the Auditorio de Zaragoza in Zaragoza, Spain, on 28 January 2023, to recognize the best in Spanish cinema and te ...

, , colspan = "2" , Best Comedy Film , , , , rowspan = "2" , , - , Best Actor in a Film , , Karra Elejalde , ,

References

{{authority control 2020s Spanish films Bulgarian comedy-drama films Spanish comedy-drama films 2022 comedy-drama films 2022 films 2020s Spanish-language films Films shot in the province of Valencia Films shot in Valencia 2022 directorial debut films