Foreigner
A new country. A new language. A new culture. China keeps surprising me.
In January 2020, Shu, a friend and roommate, invites me to spend the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) with his family. We leave Beijing, and after 18 hours on a train, we arrive in Tongguxiang, a small village hidden among mountains in the southern part of the country. With the constant background noise of firecrackers and fireworks, I become familiar with the surroundings. Through conversations, walks, visits to ancestral tombs, or sitting at the table surrounded by large amounts of food, I find my place. I carve out a space amidst the landscape and the family and gradually gain the confidence to take out my camera and capture what is before my eyes. Improvised and simple images. I record a specific moment in my life. And also the emptiness and sadness of having to leave the country abruptly upon learning, for the first time, about the epidemic.
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Abril Vila TruyolDirector
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Abril Vila TruyolProducer
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Elsabeth produccionsProducer
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Ramon FranchSound mix
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Xavier PuigGrading
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Jaume PortellaGraphic design
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Project Title (Original Language):老外
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Project Type:Documentary
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Runtime:45 minutes
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Completion Date:November 4, 2023
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Country of Origin:Spain
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Country of Filming:China
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Language:Catalan, English, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
Abril Vila studied at ECAM (School of Cinema and Audiovisuals of Madrid), where she specialized in Documentary Filmmaking. Her first academic work was the short film "Marillu" (2018), which depicts her 86-year-old grandmother traveling to Madrid to fulfill one of her youthful dreams: to perform as an actress on the stage of a grand theater. The following year, she co-directed, with three other ECAM students, the short film "Yo soy la otra" (2019), a movie that follows the life of Sandra, a 73-year-old woman dedicating her present to fighting against the injustices she endured in the past. This short film won the first prize at the Magma International Short Film Festival in Acireale, Italy.
After completing her studies in Madrid, Abril moved to Beijing in an attempt to step out of her comfort zone. Her stay in China inspired her most recent project, "L'estrangera" (2023), a 45-minute film that captures Abril's experiences and observations during the celebrations of the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) in a small village in the southern part of the country.
Back in Europe, she collaborated with Catalan producers such as Elsabeth Produccions and Nihao Films from Barcelona. Subsequently, she spent a year in Bratislava as an audiovisual content creator for the ALE agency (European Labor Authority). Currently residing in Menorca, she is preparing the second part of "Marillu," once again focusing on her 91-year-old grandmother.
Her future plans include the possibility of returning to China, a country she wishes to continue exploring cinematically.