One of the crowd favorites this year at the Toronto International Film Festival was Blancanieves, a silent black-and-white adaptation of Snow White that transports the story to 1920s Spain. It was an endeavor eight years in the making, but director Pablo Berger’s work has paid off - the film is receiving rave reviews and was recently put on the shortlist as a possible contender to be Spain’s submission to the Academy Awards. In this episode, Berger joins Andrew to discuss the inspiration for the film, working with child actors and the decision to transform Snow White from sexual morality tale into religious allegory.

SHOW NOTES:

About Our Guest:

Pablo Berger is an acclaimed Spanish filmmaker. His first film, Torremolinos 73, won numerous awards on the international festival circuit in 2003-2004 and was nominated for four Goya Awards. His latest film, Blancanieves, is a silent black-and-white adaptation of the Snow White fairy tale. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and has been shortlisted as Spain’s submission to the Academy Awards.

The Episode:


0:27 - Introduction
4:20 - Moving from Torremolinos 73 to Blancanieves.
5:30 - Why switch from an adult-oriented film to one aimed at families?
6:28 - Why were you drawn to the tale of Snow White? Why not another fairy tale?
7:42 - You have a great cast, including child actress Sofia Oria. What was it like working with someone so young in the silent cinema style?
9:35 - Did you read the Grimm fairy tale and watch other interpretations of the story in your research?
11:30 - Several interpretations of Snow White treat it as a morality tale about sex. Your film includes a lot of religious imagery. Tell me more about that.
12:51 - Are you Catholic yourself?
14:46 - The religious imagery adds to a very unconventional ending. Why did you decide to end the film that way?
17:26 - Were you upset or happy when you heard The Artist was a huge hit and there were going to be two other Snow White film adaptations this year?
19:25 - Show close

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