Whisky

Juan Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stoll, 2003
Uruguay / Argentina / Spain
Fiction, 35 mm, color
Duration: 94 min
Production: Control Z films
In coproducción with: Rizoma Films / Hernán Musaluppi / Pandora Filmproduktion / Christoph Friedel
Associate Producer : Fabio Berruti
Executive Producer: Fernando Epstein

With the participation of: Wanda Visión / José María Morales / Canal Plus España
With finantial support of: FONA / MVD Socio Audiovisual / I.N.C.A.A. (Argentina) / Global Film Initiative / Filmstiftung NRW / Fondo de ayuda al desarrollo de guiones del FESTIVAL D'AMIENS

Synopsis

Jacob Köller owns a humble sock factory and that seems to be all he has in his monotonous life. Marta is Jacob's right hand. Their relationship never goes beyond business matters, and it is marked by silence and routine. This monotony is suddenly threatened by the announcement of an unexpected visit: Herman, Jacob's brother, will come from Brazil after more than ten years. Jacob then allows himself to ask Marta for help to cope with the situation.

Hence, between absurdity and melancholy, as well as daily life and farce, the movie subtly portrays the clumsiness and little miseries of these characters, so different from one another, while they try to hide their resentment and friction.

A story told through minimum and trivial details. Three apparently harmless personalities. Three different sorts of loneliness.

Cast and Crew

Screenplay
Juan Pablo Rebella / Pablo Stoll
Gonzalo Delgado Galiana
Cinematography and Camera
Bárbara Álvarez
Art Direction
Gonzalo Delgado Galiana
Editing
Fernando Epstein
Sound
Catriel Vildosola / Daniel Yafalián
Wardrobe
Adelaida Rodríguez
Original Score
Pequeña orquesta reincidentes
Assistant Director
Manolo Nieto Zas
Production Manager
Diego Fernández
Poster Design
Luis Bellagamba / Martín Verges Rilla
Cast
Jacobo
Andrés Pazos
Marta
Mirella Pascual
Herman
Jorge Bolani
Daniel Hendler / Ana Katz / Verónica Perrota
Jorge Temponi / Alfonso Tort / Ignacio Mendy
Romina Peluffo / Adrián Biniez / Francisca Barreiro
Graciela Kabzanes / Hugo Bardallo / Adelaida Rodríguez
Antonio Baldomir / Fernando Pereyra / José Pedro Bujaruz
Mariana Velazques / Damián Barrera
International awards
  • Un Certain Regard, Cannes: "Una Mirada Original" and FIPRESCI Awards
  • Festival Elcine of Lima: Best Script and Best Actress
  • Brothers Manaki International Films Festival: Special Mention Best Photography
  • Latin Section, Gramado: Best Film PopularJury; Best Film Official Jury and Best Actress
  • Chicago International Film Festival: Best Direction
  • Tokio International Film Festival: The first Prize - Best Film and Best Actress
  • Huelva: Colon of gold- Best Film and Colon of silver - Best Direction
  • 16º San Juan Cinemafest: Best Film (Critics' circle of Puerto Rico)
  • 45º International Thessaloniki Film Festival: Best Script and Best Actress
  • 26th International festival of Latinoamerican New Cinema, La Habana: Coral Prize for Best Fiction and Special Mention Prize Glauber Rocha of the foreign press
  • FIPRESCI Award Uruguay: Best Latinomerican Film; Award Performance Revelation; Best Uruguayan Film; Best Uruguayan Director - Pablo Stoll and Juan Pablo Rebella -; Best Uruguayan Actor - Jorge Bolani and Andrés Pazos; Best Uruguayan Actress - Mirella Pascual-; Best Uruguayan Script - Stoll, Rebella and Gonzalo Delgado-; Best Uruguayan Photography - Barbara Alvarez -; and Best Uruguayan Music.
  • CINEMATECA URUGUAYA Award: Best Uruguayan Film 2004
  • Brothers Manaki International Film Festival: Jury Special Prize- Barbara Alvarez
  • Goya Prize - Best film Spanish speaking
  • Miami International Film Festival: Best Actress award
  • Guadalajara´s Festival: Best Actress award - Mirella Pacual-; Audience Award y "Guerrero" awarded by the trade press
  • "Ariel" Award to the Best Iberoamerican Film; granted by the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences.
  • Iris Gold Sábado Show: Awarded by the magazine of "El País" Journal.
  • Transylvania International Film Festival: "Transylvania Trophy" Award- Juan Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stoll
  • Festival CINEMA des 3 Ameriques of Québec: Audience Award
  • 8º Latin American Film Festival in Washington D C: Special Jury Prize and the Audience Award.
Press
Delicious. A slightly absurd comedy about intimacy and solitude. Funny and gently narrated, Whisky marveled the audience with the confidence of its melancholic humor.
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times (EE.UU.)
A film with tender humor, flawless in every aspect. A discovery.
Jan Schulz Ojala, Der Tagesspiegel (Germany)
The main event at Cannes Festival. Humor and sense of the absurd are the directors' weapons in this corrosive comedy, written more in silences than in dialogues. Light and beyond conventions.
Cristina Piccino, Il Manifesto (Italy)
A jewel. Filmed with a clear sense of framing and timing, Whisky is one of the best films exhibited in Cannes. A melancholic comedy with depressive burlesque tones.
Serge Kaganski, Les Irockuptibles (France)
In the "expected by nobody" category, Whisky takes the big award. Whisky transits through a subtle line of charming humor.
Gerard Lefort, Libertaion (France)
Discretion and humor at the speed of lighting, sometimes only a suggested gesture. Extraordinary humanity. Frustrations and hopes are guessed in silences and mechanically repeated phrases. Whisky sails between laughter and emotion until its wonderful end.
Thomas Sotinel, Le Monde (France)