Spanish writer-director Carlota Pedra presents a candid look at the youth’s psyches; their faults and insecurity. In this award-winning short-turned-feature, Pereda, known for nudging the boundaries of genre, delivers a roundhouse kick, annihilating them.
“Piggy” (“Cerdita”) is set in a serene but suspect rural town, Extremadura, where our anti-heroine Sara (Laura Galán) emerges, wrought with anxiety and crippling trauma from the abuse she endures at the hands of her hostile and popular peers. The viewer is able to see Sara with all her mixed emotions and untamed cruelty as each take unfolds.
Charades in international sold this item, and XYZ Films represented the U.S. “Piggy”This tale tells a disturbing story that sets the stage for reflection. Trouble lies not only in the youth’s folly but also in the town itself and Richard Holmes, a mysterious and homicidal stranger who assumes the role as an unsolicited hero. The story that appears to be about teenage strife is actually a series of stories interwoven. The film reveals, in the end, that women don’t necessarily need someone to avenge them.
Produced by Morena Films, and Backup Media “Piggy” participated in Cannes’ Focus CoPro while still in development. It was awarded the Pop Up Residency award and won Ventana Sur at Ventana CineMad.
Ahead of the film’s virtual debut at Sundance on Monday, Pereda spoke withVarietyabout the film, bodies, bullies, and where her cinematic vision might take her next.
Some scenes felt stuck in the moment due to the fast pace of the shots. You could talk about the use of timing and pace. How important did they become in the transformation of Piggy from a short film into a feature?
This movie was really hard for me to think through. I really wanted to trap the audience into Sara’s reality. The idea was to make really long shots, to really have the sense that you couldn’t escape from that. That’s one of the reasons we chose the academic format, to be more claustrophobic. I always end up taking more shots and always have more editing because, in the end, I’m too nervous and I want to keep on going and going. I wanted it to be as simple as possible so there weren’t many things distracting us from her.
The short was just 14 minutes so it’s important to be abstract. I made the short with no music and filmed in plain daylight. The idea was to trap her in my reality. But of course, in the short, you cant’ go into details. The three short girls are nearly identical. They all have the same hairstyle and wear the same clothes, with very little variation. The idea was reversed. You can make it more real by adding more layers. The more layers you have, the better. Even though it’s simple, you can really understand how these three different girls do what they do for very different reasons. From Sara’s perspective, too. You learn a lot about Sara’s daily life from the beginning. That’s why you have the rabbits at the beginning, you know that she just shot them. Everything is telling you the story even when you don’t realize it is.
The close-up shots give Sara an intimate feeling. Particularly, the pool scene. The way you used the POV shot for that anxiety was a nightmare to watch. Was it ever your intention to shoot this scene differently or was the POV shot the best way to do it?
If you were to read the screenplay I wrote, it would look exactly the same as the movie. Because, when I write, first I have to visualize what I’m going to do. It was always my story and had to be her perspective. Here, we don’t include the audience as much as we did in the short. The most important thing to me was that people share her journey hand-in-hand. There was no other option. The story’s whole point is that Sara’s journey, as well as the camera we used to shoot her, was the focus of the story. First, we tried to get her to do certain things while she was screaming for more. The camera is slightly higher than her until the end. In the beginning of the film, the camera doesn’t move much. As things progress, we begin to move along with her and the camera, framing her differently. It’s wider. The end of the movie has the only crane shot. We were truly, really insane, obsessed with it, and always talking. “we gotta move the camera, we gotta move the camera.”
The film raised questions about how male anger was depicted onscreen. Many women with these emotions are shown as being too sensitive, crazy, or hormonal. Men with the same rage, however, are seen as almost as valiant and masculine. Did you consider it important to display those emotions in reverse?
This was extremely important to me. I wanted to show the concept of bad boyfriends, bad guys and the glamorization that they do. Also, how sometimes when you’re a teen, the first guy that lays eyes on you, your friends are almost telling you, “oh, you should go out with him,”Like, “Why?” just because he noticed my face? No. All of these things. I wanted to express this kind of weird thing that the audience is almost rooting for her to go out with him….
The way you portrayed Sara’s form in the film was unique. We don’t see varied versions of the female body enough in cinema. Not only is Sara’s body coveted by the stranger, but it also allows her to hunt, swim, run….What would you like people to take away from the way you showcase Sara’s body in this film? You are not simply displaying Sara’s body to attract the male gaze.
They should see her as she is. She is a complex human being, she’s a beautiful human being, and she’s beautiful because she’s flawed. That’s what is important, that you can redeem yourself. For me, there’s a thousand different people in the world and there’s beauty in every single one of us. I’m just so tired of seeing the same things over and over again. I’m just really bored. I’m also very tired of seeing that victims have to be victims. No! Victims are people too, and they don’t have to be defined by that. She’s experienced bullying but she’s more than that.
Your film goes deeper than most teen movies and thrillers, which tend to gloss over bullying. What were the elements you wanted to include to make your film more striking?
The frivolity and evil is a thing. Also, I’ve experienced bullying, a lot, when I was a teen. So, there’s something that just…you’re in the middle of a beautiful pool and that stuff happens. It’s very, very violent and there’s nothing fun about it. Claudia, my friend, was also a character I wanted to see how violent it is. See how it’s something that really taints anyone that’s around it. If she’s so violent about it, the girl who does it, she has some kind of wound as well. It’s this circle of violence that is within society. It must be stopped somewhere. I just wanted to make it as realistic as possible because I don’t want to glamorize it, at all. I want people see violence as a way to create violence. I don’t want you to leave the movie feeling good about yourself because this is not a public service announcement, it’s something to disturb you so you think about it.
What do you want to do next? Are there concepts you’re dying to delve into or genres you’re looking forward to playing with?
I consider myself a storyteller. I want stories that are moving. I like movies that look like windows. I want to open doors for the audience and make them see that reality. In a way, movies must be entertaining first. However, all things are political. Every thing is political. And, if you say it’s not political, it’s because it’s political. I have some things in the works. The second adaptation of my short story is called. “The Blondes,” and it’s about identity, it’s a thriller. I have another story which is about motherhood and it’s a fantasy/horror film.
Carlota Peereda
Image Credits: Charades