The Nevenka Affair: How to capture Metoo through fiction?

Iciar Bollain explains to Première the manufacturing secrets of The Nevenka Affair, his fiction returning to the first case of political Metoo in Spain

With your new feature film, The Nevenka Affairyou return to the first case of political Metoo in Spain, the harassment experienced in the mid-90s by Nevenka Fernandez, a young municipal councilor, from the mayor of her city. When did you start considering a film about this case?

Iciar Bollain: I must admit to having followed the affair a little from afar at the time. These are the producers of my previous film, The Repentants who, 3 or 4 years ago, suggested that I take an interest in it. I then immersed myself in a remarkable book that a journalist had written on the affair. And this reading really clicked with me. I understood what a pioneer Nevenka was. And I immediately said to myself that a fiction would allow me to complete the story, to show what she experienced, what she had told in detail but without being believed by everyone, far from it . What a documentary, in fact, could not have done since these moments were not captured and it was his word against that of his attacker. And then I also liked the idea of ​​telling this affair with 20 years of hindsight. This allows us to see what has evolved but also what has not fundamentally changed despite the freedom of speech and the notion of consent which is no longer perceived in the same way.

Did you meet Nevenka Fernandez to prepare your film?

Yes, even before I started the project. I went to see her with my co-writer Isa Campo in Ireland where she now lives. I was lucky that she saw and liked one of my films, Don't say anythingwhich spoke of domestic violence. She told me about it straight away. Nevenka and her companion were particularly well disposed towards me. His companion even assured us that if anyone should tell this story, it would be me and no one else. It obviously touched me a lot. Nevenka was incredibly generous to me. She took a lot of time to talk to me and let me talk with people around her: her psychoanalyst, her lawyer, her close friends… I also spoke with some of her former colleagues from the town hall, journalists who had followed the affair to properly establish the background to this story. A region of Spain then rife with corruption because it received funds from the European Union after the closure of the mines. And this mayor, Ismael Alvarez, respected by all and immensely popular who was spontaneously believed more than her when she wanted to denounce what he was doing to her.

What are the biggest precautions to take when writing this scenario?

Be careful to always infuse complexity into the story. Never forget that abusers have many facets. And that it is precisely because they know how to charm their people that they are so dangerous. This is why I wanted to multiply the scenes where we see the charisma of Alvarez and the way in which he fascinated those who crossed his path.

THE NEVENKA CASE: RELENTLESS AND CHILLING [CRITIQUE]

You also show the scenes of aggression and therefore do not go through the ellipsis to tell the physical and psychological hell experienced by Nevenka Fernandez. How did you think about them and shoot them?

I absolutely didn't want to embellish anything, never to make the unbearable bearable. I hate films that try to aestheticize these moments. But to create these scenes on screen, we obviously exchanged a lot and worked together with the two actors Mireia Oriol and Urko Olazabal. Everything was choreographed. Everything was formulated clearly about which parts of the bodies would be visible on screen.

You mention your two actors, both of whom are impressive. What do you think were the biggest challenges they faced?

The role of Nevenka Fernandez is incredibly complex since in what she goes through, it goes from the greatest of strengths to the greatest of fragilities before finding strength and courage. We also had to believe that she does not understand what is happening to her – which would necessarily be different in 2024 -, in her own doubts about what she is experiencing since almost no one reacts around her. Playing this confusion is immensely complex. And what Mireia Oriol does is fascinating. Opposite, Urko Olazabal had to play a kind of cat who always ends up trapping the mouse which he has made his prey. For this, he was able to rely on the book that I mentioned earlier where the psychology of his character and his operating method are carefully described. After seeing both of them in audition, I couldn't imagine anyone else as Nevenka Ferandez and Ismael Alvarez. And I don't know what I would have done if they had declined my offer.

Did you have any references in mind to create the staging of this film?

I spontaneously thought of Spotlight. I watched it again and it allowed me to understand that I shouldn't be afraid of the dialogues, of the long exchanges between the different characters, that I shouldn't censor myself. But my main direction in terms of direction was to make the film live in Nevenka's skin and head, like a mouse caught in a trap. To create claustrophobia, tension. Except that once we reached the end of a first version of the edit, we realized that this tension did not really exist. So we rewrote the film at this stage, changed scenes. Starting with the one that opens the film and where we see Nevenka having a panic attack. This scene sets the tone for what will follow and maintains the tension in the moments of the story where everything seems calmer. Because we know that things are going to happen that put her in this state. Fiction allows this and this was one of the major challenges I had to take on.

The Nevenka Affair. By Iciar Bollain. With Mireia Oriol, Urko Olazabal, Ricardo Gomez… Duration: 1h57. Released November 6, 2024