Last year a small Spanish film broke out at the SXSW Film Festival and won acting accolades while garnering a lot of buzz. The film was "10,000 KM" by Carlo Marques-Marcet, a first time director. The movie later went on to get nominated for the European Film Awards, the Goya Awards, the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars and is currently nominated for the Platino Award.

Latin Post had a chance to speak to Marques-Marcet as well as the star of the film, Natalia Tena, better known for her work as Nymphadora Tonks in "Harry Potter." Both spoke about their experience on set and their surprise on the audience's response of the movie. 

Francisco Salazar: When you first started this journey of making "10,000 KM," were you guys expecting the response the film has been getting from festivals like South by Southwest, the Platino Awards and the Goya Awards?

Natalia Tena: I thought no one was going to see it. You go to some of these festivals, but sometimes certain films don't get seen. For example I was going to SXSW with another project, and while it is an honor to be there it does not mean that people are going to see your film. So after the first award I was like 'Wait, What?'  

Carlos Marques-Marcet: I had no idea until we got to Austin, and then I saw that people liked it and connected with it. However, we didn't know up to what point. But after Austin we were not as surprised. At first there is a big impact seeing people react to the film.

FS: Was this first a short film?

CM: Not necessarily. I first did an exercise and then I did a short. But that short was based on the script, which I wrote first. It was teaser to show to investors and to experiment. We did not want to bring it to festivals. The idea was to always make a feature.

FS: How long did it take you to write the script and then make the film?

CM: The script took five years since the first draft. But then I did some things in the interim. I worked as an editor for a while and finished four years of UCLA and I did a short. Then another a year passed until we got the financing for the film. But after those years everything was quick. We shot in a month, and I edited in three months.

FS: What was the inspiration?

CM: Various things. I moved from Los Angeles to Barcelona and from Barcelona to Los Angeles. I passed many hours in front of a computer screen on webcam talking to many people. I thought it was interesting, and I also had friends who had long distance relationships.

FS: At what point were you offered the script and how long did it take you to accept the film?

NT: I read it once in English and watched the short and I said I would do it. I really wanted to do it in Spanish

CM: She was scared to do it in Spanish so I had to convince her.       

FS: The first scene of the film is a 20 minute long shot. How many takes did you guys have, how many rehearsals did you have and was there any improvisation allowed while doing the scene?

CM: We rehearsed three days in another apartment and then one day with the camera and one day without the actors and only the camera and lights. Then we shot it in three days and it was about 17 takes.

NT: There was room for improvement when we were rehearsing, but when we are in the space and the camera is there, there is already a path you have to follow. You have to know where you are going, and you have be careful where you are in, for example the kitchen. There were no marks, but it was complicated because of the camera.

CM: We improvised but a lot of those were like rewriting the script. We had some things that were not working so we took them out. We improvised some things, and when we liked it, we left it for the film. Every time the movement was similar because of the camera. It was like a choreographed dance and inside that we would make dialogue adjustments. We had some liberties to do some little changes, and you would see those changes whether they were small gestures in the different takes.

FS: Did you always want to do it in one take?

CM: No. It was a process of rewriting and originally it was various scenes. I think it was originally seven different scenes. There were some outside scenes and scenes with their family that showed their daily life. But when we restructured the film, it was all about being with them. This is where the idea came out of. At the beginning I was resistant, but as I rewrote it I realized the idea was already implanted. I also realized that when the shot cut, it would add strength to the movie.

FS: The movie basically has two locations. What is the challenge of doing this especially when the locations are small?

CM: The repetition. It can be tedious and claustrophobic. We obviously used digital mediums like Google maps to give the film some air so you don't get the sense that we are always in the same spaces and to avoid monotony. The good thing is since we were using the webcam there was a lot to play with visually. There were a lot of possibilities, and it would avoid the concept of two people talking in a room. There was an exploration, and I think in some ways it is good for actors.

NT: Yes, it is liberating and has many advantages. Being alone you have nothing to worry about and you can lose yourself.

FS: Do the enclosed spaces liberate you especially since you are all alone?

NT: It is such an immense question. I am not sure every space is different.

CM: I think all the weight is on them. I know that if the actors are not comfortable then the movie will not be good. They're basically nude and you have nothing to fall back on.

FS: The chemistry between you and David Verdaguer is incredible. Was this immediate or did you have to work on it?

NT: No it was immediate. David is incredible, and from the moment I met him, he made me laugh. Carlos is also great. The first day we met we had such a great time that I realized this was going to be great.

FS: How big was the crew?

CM: It was between 15 to 20 people. It all depended on the day. There weren't many and we wanted to keep the production team small. It also depended on what production permitted. We would all eat together, and we would sing. There were no differences, and there were hierarchies. That, of course, caused some problems because a lot of the workers were my friends, and it is hard to put order sometime.

NT: You have to say "I am the director so shut up." It was like having a family.

FS: What are the challenges of working with computer screens?

CM: Communicating is difficult because when you have two different locations you have to give instructions and there were technical issues. Sometimes the connection would get cut in the middle of shooting. I had to think about the language and how you interacted with it.

FS: What were the most difficult scenes to shoot?

NT: For me it was the last one. It was at night, and we were going to end. I was so sad and I knew in three days I would leave to London. It was hard emotionally for me because I knew it was the end. But also the hours were hard.  

CM: The same, the end. We had become a family and to think it ended, that was hard. Like Natalia said, the hours were rough. We were shooting at night and we were all tired. I also did not want to have the scene too prepared like the first one. I wanted to explore and see what happened. It was like jumping into the air, I knew what I wanted, but I did not want to control them. Nights before I would watch movies especially sex scenes to see what I wanted, but nothing worked. I was nervous because I did not want to know until I was in the situation.

FS: Natalia, you've made big studio films like Harry Potter. What do you think the difference of making those films is as opposed to something like "10,000 KM?"

NT: There is less time on Indie films. But I like that because you don't have to wait too long. But you have to be more prepared. There are also less people, which is good because you get to know everyone. When you're doing a Hollywood film, you don't know anyone. Every day is a new unit, new people and it is a bit weird.

FS: What do you guys expect audiences will take away from the film?

CM: I hope they get emotional and identify with the characters. For those who have went through a long distance relationship, I hope they can think about that relationship. It's about creating a conversation.

NT: To understand these types of relationships. There are many people who have friends with these types of relationships. It can be very difficult. In a usual relationship if you have a problem, you can discuss it that night. In this however, you're 10,000 km away.   

FS: What are your next projects?

NT: I have many, but I cannot talk about them yet. I have to do some more promotion for another film "Superbob," which is being released. I also have some projects with my band Tropical Gypsy, and we will start with a campaign that is called "pledge." It is sort of like crowdfunding. Those are the next three months, and I will be writing music.

CM: Well I am writing a new movie with Natalia and will start casting. Then I have to get funding, and next year we will shoot the movie