It all goes down at Sundance Midnight
Looks like I have to stay up till midnight for the premier of Piggy that speaks to my love of horror and girl getting revenge for being bullied. Well, that’s what I think since I got bullied because of my size as a kid and fantasized about them getting in trouble (it never happened).
I always wanted to tell a story about bullying. As a gay teen I had known a bit about that, and I also changed schools a lot so I’ve seen many different types of bullying. Sometimes I was the object of the bullying and sometimes I would just be quiet so they wouldn’t do it to me. So it’s always been a theme that I wanted to address, but it was after I saw a girl in the swimming pool before I shot the short that I knew it had to be about grossophobia, because it’s something that people cannot escape. And it had to be in the middle of summer because that’s when our bodies are most exposed. And bullying is bullying. It’s when you question someone’s identity, or physique, or whatever it is, and it always comes from the same place of hatred and bigotry. It’s something I feel personal about because I have a child and I always thought what kind of child would you bring into the world when you know what children can experience.
Carlota Pereda, Writer & Director
The film by Carlota Pereda is a follow-up to her 2018 short film that has been flushed out into a dubbed feature-length film. It looks fascinating as Sara is trying to mind her own business as she grows into adulthood when something unexpected happens (not the bullying that’s normal) but that her tormentors have been abducted. I’m fascinated by the premise of should she help her tormentors (yes … hmm) by telling the police what she witnessed … well I’m not sure what’s going to happen but from the trailer, it has me intrigued enough to stay up to watch.
Are you going to join me at midnight to watch Piggy? If you do join me on Sundance to discuss the film and who you related to. I’m going to go with Sara …
During the sweltering summertime of rural Spain, Sara carries an extra load of teenage agony due to the perpetual bullying from her peers. She’s also an outsider at home—her parents and little brother just don’t understand her—so, feelings internalized, she’s often found buried in her headphones, drowning out her surroundings. One day, Sara’s usual solo dip at the local pool is disrupted by the presence of a mysterious stranger in the water and an exceptionally grueling bout of abuse at the hands of three girls. But, in a strange twist of fate, along the way home, Sara witnesses her bloodied tormentors being kidnapped in the back of the stranger’s van.
In Carlota Pereda’s strikingly bold and ominous feature adaptation of her award-winning 2018 short film, Sara must decide whether to cooperate with the police and parents’ questioning about the kidnappings, or take her own, unbridled path—while also discovering the power of desire and belonging, and the distinction between revenge and redemption.
Written & Directed By: Carlota Pereda (One of Variety’s 10 Spanish Women Directors, Producers to Track)
Starring: Laura Galán
Produced By: Merry Colomer
Co-Produced By: David Atlan-Jackson
U.S. Sales: XYZ
Int’l Sales: Charades
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