The film is part of the official section of the BCN Film Fest 2025
Director Eloy Calvo defended that a story set in Barcelona had to be told in Catalan for coherence and as an affirmation: «We never considered not doing it in Catalan.»
In an interview with Europa Press, he said that given the theme of the film, it is significant that the film opens to the public for the first time as part of the official section of the BCN Film Fest 2025, before being very excited.
«The Van» tells the story of Bear (Pol López), a middle-aged man who, after divorcing, lives in a van hidden from his ex-partner and his daughter’s teachers; Although it is repeated that the situation is «provisional,» a cast of characters: an illegal immigrant, a «heavy,» a retired neighbor, and a waitress to help him get out of this situation.
It is based on the comic of the same name from 2018, drawn by Martín Tognola and written by Ramón Pardina, who has also been the screenwriter of the film adaptation with Mercè Sarrias.
«The natural consequence»
Calvo came across the comic by chance, thinking there was a movie at the time, believing it would be small, and contacted the authors: from there they began working on the adaptation, living as a «natural consequence» of combining his interests in shooting and animation.
The director was clear from the beginning that they wanted to transfer the nature of the comic to the film, through animation in the dream scenes; It is an idea that is also reinforced by the interest in the bear in the drawing and that it is worth showing the viewer the inner world of a protagonist who often feels very lonely.
«Living»
«Living in a van, if you do it on vacation, can be a leisurely way, but being forced to live there due to a precarious problem changes things,» said Calvo.
In the film, this tension is mainly navigated through tone: the director did not want to fall into a «very dramatic» tone, although he admits that sometimes it requires it, but also a brighter part, with a character who repeats that his situation is provisional and that he does not live it dramatically.
«The van» in a Barcelona landscape characterized by housing difficulties and job precariousness, not with the intention of having a very explicit political message, but as background to the plot: «It is a real problem that we have and that is not new, the idea of the story was born many years ago and now we are in 2025 and we are worse,» said Calvo.
«How to see the bear»
Finding Pol López and starting to work with him was like seeing the bear for Calvo: he said that when he was writing and working on the character, he imagined it in many ways, but rehearsing with the actor and seeing him bring it to life was «very magical.»
The relationship between the protagonist and his young daughter (played by Martina Lleida) is an essential element for the plot of the film: Calvo explained that, although a filming set is not a natural space for a 7-year-old girl, they worked with the «kid’s coach» through play between López and Lleida.
In fact, some of the elements of complicity seen in the film are the product of these interactions and are reproduced during filming: «If we limited it only to what was written, it would have been a bit cold,» said the director.
Calvo explained that he has received a very positive response from people who have already seen the film and that his goal is to evoke emotions and connect with the audience, even if it is with «something simple and small.»
He admitted that it is «very curious» to know the different types of audiences that will connect with «The Van,» and if there will be age differences: he believes it is quite a broad film in this sense because, without going further, his son has seen it.
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