BIOGRAPHY
David Moncasi Argilés was born in Lerida in 1966. He studied Journalism and worked as a reporter for TVE’s (the Spanish State Channel) program “Línea 900” between 1996 and 2002. He was awarded the Premio Ciutat de Barcelona and the Insoford 1997 for the program “A Deaf Person at Home”; the Sant Jordi Award (for public spiritedness in the media) for the program “The Task of a Referee”, and the Imserso 2000, for “Old and Alone”.
Between 2000 and 2005 he was part of the team from “Reportajes Canal +”, where he developed and shot documentaries on the current political situation in Western Sahara, the growth of televangelists in Latin America, the development of a vaccine against malaria and AIDS in Africa, among others. His documentary, “The Silent Epidemic” was named Best Documentary 2004 by the Academy of Arts and Television.
He won the “Carabela de Plata” in the 31st Festival of Iberian- American Cinema Huelva 2005 for the short, THE SWINGING DOLL.
DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARIES
The idea for this film came to me after a chance encounter in a bar in Sitges and was very slow in taking shape. Carmen, our main character, invited me into her world. I became more and more intrigued as I started discovering things. I watched curiously during days until I finally became convinced that her story had to be told.
A lot of patience was necessary during the shoot, but little else. Our role was to be there, try to be discreet and interfere as little as possible. Carmen took care of the rest. She is a woman who works as an antidepressant on anyone; seeing Carmen in action is like taking Prozac.
Not only did we want to show what her past life had been like, but also what it is like now, to show people that there is plenty of time and things to do after turning sixty, seventy, even eighty. Carmen has gone through hard times, but she’s always been capable of looking forward. She may be 84 years old but her liveliness is contagious. The team who filmed her felt it and we hope it will also reach the public.
