Berlin

World premiere of “el somni” at the Berlin Film Festival A unique film blending many artistic disciplines around the gastronomy of the world’s best restaurant El Celler de Can Roca

“el somni” (The Dream), the film by the Roca Brothers, Franc Aleu and Mediapro is set to premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in the Culinary Cinema section.

“el somni” is a unique film, promoted and produced by MEDIAPRO, in collaboration with the Barcelona City Hall, showcasing the creative process of more than 40 artists who took part in this singular dining experience. The event revolves around a 12 course dinner featuring the culinary creations of the Roca Brothers and directed by distinguished innovator of contemporary opera Franc Aleu, offering the viewer a never-seen-before experience through a multi-format performance.

The Roca Brothers, Joan, Josep and Jordi, opened El Celler de Can Roca, a restaurant just outside Girona, Catalonia in northern Spain, in 1986 and it now holds three Michelin stars. It was named the best restaurant in the world, having been previously been ranked as the second for two years, by The World's 50 Best Restaurants.

The film uses documentary film combined with the narrative resources of experimental film, fiction and animation. The creative talents of musicians, poets, artists, composers, singers, and visual artists from around the world come together for a dining experience fusing art and cuisine. “el somni” shatters the boundaries of every artistic, spatial and conceptual discipline to create a marriage between opera and gastronomy, with art and intellectual thought as the driving forces behind the project. The experience provides spectators with an opportunity to witness the birth of this adventure and to delve into the underlying creative emotions of the discourse that is the Roca Brother cuisine, which aims to recreate the experience of the dinner guests in attendance at the event held in Barcelona in May 2013.

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The film affords cinemagoers an up-close look at the Roca Brothers’ singular form of creation and their take on life which has enabled them to create an internationally acclaimed cuisine. The viewer is not simply a mere onlooker, but also a witness to the emotions created using food and via images designed by Franc Aleu, in collaboration with artists, musicians, and world-class designers. These include such renowned creators as Peret, Roland Olbeter, Carlos Fesser, Luca Francesconi, Pedro Alcalde, Sergio Caballero, Sílvia Pérez Cruz, Elena Katz Chernin, Albert Guinovart, Wolfgang Mitterer, Bernat Vivancos, Albert Pla, Carles Duarte, Pau Riba, Rafael Argullol, Arturo C. Urbina, Mariona Castelar, Roos Van de Velde, Taller Luesma Vega, Pere Gifré, Daniel Molina, Joan Crous, Andreu Carulla, Sabiote Innova, Elaine Mitchener, Kolja Blacher, Ravid Goldschmidt, Judit Farré, Clàudia Schneider, Ilona Schneider, Mariona Castelar, Ferran Carvajal, Anna Roblas, Andreas Jankowitsch, Latvian Radio Choir, Pau Codina, Marta Requena, Maria Bou, Alba Aro and Oleguer Aymamí.

The “el somni” dinner brings together twelve people from very different walks of life, each one of whom excels in their own field and who share one common denominator: the curiosity to experiment, to go beyond the boundaries of the senses.

Ferran Adrià, chef and co-owner of El Bulli; Rafael Argullol, novelist, poet and essayist; Miquel Barceló, artist; Joël Candau, an anthropologist specializing in sensory sciences ; Bonaventura Clotet, one of the leading international experts in HIV research; Nandita Das, actress and one of the most renowned directors in Indian cinema; Abderrahmane Kheddar, world-leading expert in the science of touch, virtual reality and humanoid robotics; Ben Lehner, a biologist and researcher and one of the most brilliant scientists in his field; Harold McGee, author specializing in the chemistry, technique and history of food and cooking; Freida Pinto, actress who has starred in films including "Slumdog Millionaire" and “You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger”; Josep Pons, music director of the Liceu Barcelona Opera House; Lisa Randall, theoretical physicist and leading expert on cosmology. The presence and testimony of these twelve renowned individuals endorses the creative process which is “el somni”.

“el somni” is the third full-length feature in which Mediapro participates to be presented at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival. Prior to this year’s edition, the company presented Comandante by Oliver Stone, at the 2003 edition of the Berlinale and Amador by Fernando León de Aranoa in 2011.

www.elsomni.cat / “el somni” film trailer

MEDIAPRO

MEDIAPRO’S Group has produced more than twenty feature-length films, both independently and in coproduction with prestigious national and international partners. MEDIAPRO’S filmography includes works by first-time directors as well as internationally talent such as Oliver Stone (COMANDANTE), Patricio Guzmán (SALVADOR ALLENDE), Jean-Jacques Annaud (SA MAJESTÉ MINOR), Roman Polanski (CARNAGE), Fernando León de Aranoa (PRINCESAS, AMADOR) and Isabel Coixet (THE SECRET LIFE OF WORDS, MAP OF THE SOUNDS OF TOKYO). 

MEDIAPRO’S films, distributed all round the world, have earned both critical and audience recognition, winning a host of awards at some of the world’s most prestigious international festivals including Cannes, San Sebastian and Sundance. Awards won include two Oscars and three nominations, 2 Golden Globes, 2 Independent Spirit Awards, 1 Vulcaine at the Cannes Festival, 22 Goya, 1 BAFTA nomination, 1 Concha de Oro at the San Sebastian Film Festival

MEDIAPRO co-produced Woody Allen’s internationally acclaimed and award-winning VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER and MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, the the director’s most successful film ever.