The “intense” and even “dangerous” romance that entangles, under the blue of the pools, a World Cup swimmer and her coach will immerse viewers of the film ‘Agua Negra’, the next international project by Uruguayan Santiago Ventura, in a captivating story. .
The summer storm that breaks out outside goes unnoticed by the large group of people who, almost unperturbed by the heat that envelops the heated pool of the Naval School of Montevideo, lend themselves to the curious and daring challenge of making films underwater. .
As aquatic as it is international
With a chair in front of the monitor waiting for him in the corner where the director of photography, Javier Ventura, is also, his brother Santiago goes and returns attentive to the movement of those who attend the stunts about to swim or keep one of the cameras submerged, among others. numerous tasks.
With the voice of “action” the atmosphere changes, during the 23 seconds that run until the “cut” the concentration is total. Then, like at the end of a real swimming competition, the tension drops and the work continues; In the meantime, Ventura tells EFE the details of her third feature film.
The project, he assures, arose from a script for a medium-length fiction film written together with the director and actress Belén Giannini that, with about 30 written pages and airs of “a larger story”, they believed that it deserved to be turned into a feature-length film.
“We had about two years of script and process of telling the story and finally we started filming in December 2023,” he reveals about the filming, which, he notes, will last around 30 days and will have scenes in Uruguay, Montevideo and Maldonado. , as in Mar del Plata (Argentina) and Barcelona (Spain).
To which Ventura highlights that this “opening” of settings in different countries makes the film produced by ChesterFilms & La Mayor Cine (Uruguay) and co-produced by the Spanish Guainot “very international”, this is also reflected in its cast.
The screenwriter Giannini herself is the protagonist and the Uruguayan Paula Silva is also the co-star, but the Spanish Clara Alvarado and the Argentinians Carlos Portaluppi and Eugenia Tobal also appear.
Dive into another universe
For Paula Silva, playing Laura, a swimmer who was a World Cup champion and retired “due to a fairly serious injury” that left her a large scar on her leg, is “quite challenging,” as it involves diving into the “universe.” of sport.
“The character has many points in distance from what I am. (It involves) getting involved in the entire sporting universe of athletes, how they carry out their career, how important it is to be disciplined, mental health and how they play, above all in the case of Laura, a champion who had to retire in her prime,” he says.
Entering the world of professional swimming is also an important challenge for Ventura, for whom entering it is what distinguishes the project from his two previous feature films, ‘As fragile as a second’ (2014) and ‘Gray eyes’ (2018 ).
“Basically there is the whole issue of the underwater camera, the assembly of a (filming) car out of the water, the force generated by the water with the technical equipment that slows it down, using doubles, which are what they are doing (the competitive swimming scenes),” he says.
Who thus highlights the work as doubles of the Uruguayan professional swimmers Taissa Pedreira, Catalina Gómez, Valentina Alba and Manuela Triver, indicates that the protagonists also train with devices “to be physically as close as possible” to swimmers who “train five hours every day.” days since he was 10 years old.
A dangerous entanglement
A promising swimmer named Mara arrives in the Uruguayan capital to train with former champion Laura, who will guide her to qualify for the World Championships and during training a love bond will be established between them.
This is the summary of the plot in which, although he does not want to reveal much, Silva anticipates that the “very dangerous” bond that arises between Mara and Laura is a key point: “that is where the film begins to put in another more dramatic tone, with more emotional charge”.
For Silva, her character in ‘Agua Negra’ has “many layers” that are revealed throughout the film. Asked about her expectations for when it hits theaters, the actress highlights that while that is not in her hands, He does trust that there is “a perfect team” in all areas that will be reflected in the result.
“When an actor puts his body at the disposal of a character or a story, what he wants most is for it to be seen and for people to receive it and from there, whatever needs to arise arises. That is letting go and trusting,” he concludes. .
