Costa del Sol filmmaker seeks Spanish locals and 'guiri' foreign extras for comedy about the Torremolinos of the 1960s

Francisco Griñán

Fuengirola

Tuesday, 17 September 2024, 17:39

He counts his films as box office hits, and his last script, La Lista de los Deseos (the wish list), was bought by Hollywood for a remake. However, Álvaro Díaz Lorenzo from Fuengirola had a pending wish: to shoot in his homeland. This will now become reality in what will be his sixth film, Vírgenes (virgins), the story of some Andalusian kids who come to the call of the libertarian, shameless and playful Torremolinos at the end of the 1960s. The filmmaker himself has confirmed to SUR that shooting of this comedy will begin on 25 September, and he has already finalised the main cast, which will include a leading local presence.

Zoom

For the main roles, Díaz Lorenzo has opted for young but experienced actors like Carlos Scholz from Malaga, one of the characters in the Netflix series Toy Boy, also filmed on the Costa del Sol. He is joined by other established Spanish actors such as Natalia Azahara, Cristina Kovani and César Vicente. "They embody the young people who left a black and white Spain to arrive in a Torremolinos that was an explosion of colour, music and life, because here they saw their first bikini and discovered rock and roll," the director said.

To support this young generation, the filmmaker has used some of the regular Malaga actors that have appeared in his other films, although he needs extras for the production. The company Son de Casting has opened the recruitment of extras for residents in the province of Malaga. The profiles are basically two: 'guiris', or foreigners, and local people. In both cases, the selection is wide-ranging, and men, women and children between the ages of three and 90 can apply if they are available to work on single days between September and October.

In the case of foreigners, it is specified that people with Nordic, Swedish, British and German nationality will be taken into account. They can send their application by WhatsApp to the number 673 90 90 50. The rest of the applicants can apply by sending their details to the following web address: www.sondecasting.com/apuntate.

Produced by Spal Films, with the support of TVE, Canal Sur and the Junta de Andalucía, the film Vírgenes will bring to the screen some of the icons of the Costa del Sol in the 60s and 70s, such as the legendary Tiffany's nightclub, the revered Pez Espada Hotel where the big stars and aristocracy of the time stayed, the popular donkey-taxis of Mijas and the now closed Tivoli amusement park. These are the scenes in which this plot of friendship and discovery will be set, which also includes in its shooting schedule the streets of Torremolinos, Benalmádena Pueblo, Mijas and Fuengirola. Filming will be completed with locations in Seville.

Zoom

"This comedy about young men who go to flirt with Swedes may sound like the films of Alfredo Landa, but Álvaro's vision is endearing, nostalgic and contains a reflection on the sexual repression and homophobia of the grey Spain of the time in the face of the breath of freedom brought by the Europeans, particularly on the luminous Costa del Sol, which fascinated and changed a whole generation of Spaniards," explains Sevillian producer Antonio Pérez, who is working with the Malaga-born filmmaker once again.

After the shooting, there won't be long to wait for the film's premiere, as the producer is aiming for next spring or summer to reach theatres, which puts this initiation comedy on the radar of the next Malaga Festival, where Álvaro Díaz Lorenzo already has experience.