- Starring Julio Peña and Alessandro Borghi, it tells the story of Miguel de Cervantes, who, imprisoned in Algiers, tries to escape in order to return to Spain.
El Poble Nou de Benitatxell has landscapes that look like a film. Literally. The cove of El Moraig and its Cova del Arcs have hosted this Monday and last Friday the filming of several scenes of ‘El cautivo’, the latest film by director Alejandro Amenábar which narrates a part of the life of the writer of ‘Don Quixote’, Miguel de Cervantes. The film shows a young Cervantes, who, imprisoned in the corsair city of Algiers, tries to escape in order to return to Spain, while at the same time he discovers his true vocation: to be a writer.
This Monday, the mayor, Miguel Ángel García, and councillors María José Ivars, Jorge Pascual and Isa Garrido visited the film set located on the beach, which was closed to the public during the two days of filming. They were able to see first-hand what filming is like inside and all the technical and human infrastructure involved.
They were also able to talk about the film with some of the actors and with Alejandro Amenábar, with whom they shared some historical information about the municipality. In fact, the mayor has given him the book ‘Nits de tinta’, which collects the testimonies and photographs with which Jake Abbot portrayed the cliffs of El Poble Nou de Benitatxell, Xàbia and Moraira, and put faces to the encesers who, hanging from the steep cliffs, risked their lives on the coldest nights of the year to catch cuttlefish or rockfish to supplement their always insufficient earnings.
‘El cautivo’ stars actors Julio Peña (‘A través de mi ventana’ or ‘Berlin’) and Alessandro Borghi (‘Suburra: Sangre en Roma’). The cast is completed by Fernando Tejero, Miguel Rellán, José Manuel Poga, Luis Callejo, Roberto Álamo, Albert Salazar, César Sarachu and Luna Berroa, among others.
According to an article by the Academia de Cine, in the opinion of Alejandro Amenábar, the writer of Don Quixote «left a great story untold: his own». The director and screenwriter will narrate it in ‘ El cautivo’, a production that began filming last April in the Castle Fortress of Santa Pola and before Benitatxell it has stopped in other locations such as the Castle of Santa Barbara in Alicante or the Ciudad de la Luz studios. Filming will continue in other locations in Valencia province, such as the palace of Anna, and will end in Seville in mid-June.
It is a Spanish-Italian co-production by MOD Producciones and Himenóptero (responsible for ‘Los Otros’, ‘Mar Adentro’, ‘Ágora’ and ‘Mientras dure la guerra’), Misent Producciones and Propaganda Italia, with the participation of Netflix, RTVE and RAI Cinema and with the support of ICAA-Ministerio de Cultura, Generalitat Valenciana and Eurimages. The executive producer is Fernando Bovaira, producer of Alejandro Amenábar’s films and successful series such as ‘Los Farad’, ‘La Fortuna’, ‘Crematorio’ and ‘El día de mañana’.
