The 14 writers of the Laboratory IslaBentura Canary Islands are already in the Archipelago to start the documentation phase that will give shape to stories about the islands or that happen in them and whose final destination will predictably be the cinema or television. The group will be spread throughout the seven islands, having selected two scripts for each of the seven island territories, each one accompanied by a tutor who will guide them in a creative process that will last for six months, in face-to-face and virtual format.
The General Director of Culture, Ruben Pereztoday welcomed the group, accompanied by the coordinator of Canary Islands Film, Natacha Moraand the director of IslaBentura, Maria Jose Manso in an act in which the media were able to learn the details of this new phase that the project is undertaking.
This first face-to-face meeting took place in Tenerife, and starting tomorrow each of the scriptwriters will travel to the island they are going to write about in order to document themselves. In this process, there is the collaboration of the island institutions, which are also the ones who facilitate the data collection work, testimonies that may be linked to their stories, visits to places of interest, as well as to libraries or archives, or to interview with people who can provide them with any data that can enrich these stories.
Over the weekend they will meet again within the framework of the Canary Islands Environmental Film Festival, FICMEC, an entity that has collaborated with this laboratory, to receive specific training on sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals in screenwriting .
Two stories for each island
The participants will be distributed throughout the islands, based on the script ideas that were selected in the call. The stories and genres they present are very varied: family dramas, legends or historical episodes, reunions with the past, comedies, Guanches, stories based on real events, tourism, or political, among many others.
Located in Gran Canaria is ‘Riding a Christie’, by Mercé Sarrias, a script for a comedy series with a bit of a thriller that tells of an adventure of Agatha Christie and her friends during the writer’s visit to Gran Canaria in 1927; Y ‘Welcome, Mister Farrar’, by Servando Vidal, a story of memory and revenge set in Christmas 1954, when the Moby Dick crew landed on the island to finish filming the famous John Houston movie.
From Lanzarote is ‘Datana’, by Daute Matías Campos, a historical series that narrates the conquest of the island from the story of Teguise, a princess turned slave who will have to fight for her love against her family and for her island against the conquerors. Also ‘Cross’, by Laura Martel, a feature film that talks about the ghosts of collective memory, narrated through a real case: the murder of the Cruz sisters in Teguise.
From Fuerteventura ‘Leeward’, by Nuria Cabello, a police-surfer thriller whose plot takes place during the World Surfing Championship. A series of inexplicable events will make a young Lieutenant of the Civil Guard, a sports manager and a Brigade with literary aspirations unravel a plot of ecological terrorism, folk mysticism and surf fundamentalism. The second is the feature film ‘Aniagua’, by Marina Rúbies, a dramatic comedy about the personal and cultural identity of a teenager from Fuerteventura who starts working as a hotel maid in a very touristy area of Fuerteventura. Mourning, maternal relationships and social claims behind the scenes of paradise.
For Tenerife there are two script proposals for feature films: ‘Ucanca’, by Diana Rojo, is a comedy starring a group of travelers who embark on a ufological tourism trip in Tenerife. But to get to the sighting, they’ll first have to survive “phase one” encounters with themselves. The second ‘Pgrab the cutlery’, by Almudena Vázquezis a heist movie-tinged romantic comedy about a couple who decide to get married in order to swindle all of their guests.
In The Palm, the long ‘What nature gives’, by Fernando Díez, is an intimate, suspenseful drama about the importance of our roots and the power of second chances; Y ‘What a Band’ by Juan José Durán, a musical comedy for a television series in which the lead guitarist of a veteran hard rock band begins to teach classes at an institute in La Palma under a project of social integration through music for adolescents at risk of exclusion as therapy to overcome his addiction to alcohol.
In La Gomera will be Laura Perez to document for the feature film ‘different species’, a story of second chances and the possibility of inventing a life. The main couple runs away from their problems and will search the island for a way to fix a relationship that is about to break up. However, in that search for themselves, the island will manage to reveal the true species to which they belong. also the series ‘The Red Teacher’, by Sara Molina, a dramatic series with hints of fantasy, inspired by the character of Blanca Ascanio. Mixing the real history of the island with its traditional legends, she tells how this Gomeran heroine fought for equality and the right to education.
Y The iron will have the scriptNon trubada’ by Carolina Daza, a science fiction series in which the legendary island of San Borondón suddenly appears to the west of El Hierro, and the mystery that it entails irreversibly changes the lives of some people from El Hierro. Y Javier Morales with the feature film script ‘A supermarket in Tigaday’a trip back to the past in which music will be a fundamental element of the plot.
Also, it should be noted that each participant cShare on your personal blogs andThe creative process of writing your scripts. A six-month adventure of research, training and familiarization with the cultural and natural heritage of the Islands that we can follow in detail through the website of www.islabenturacanarias.com.
