Palmeras en la nieve (2015)

After the death of her father, a young Spanish woman discovers a partial letter. As she searches for the answers, she embarks on a journey that takes her back to Africa, where she unfolds the secrets of her family.

Director:

Fernando González Molina

Writers:

Sergio G. Sánchez, Luz Gabás (novel)

Stars:

Mario Casas, Adriana Ugarte, Macarena García

5 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mario Casas	...	Killian
Adriana Ugarte	...	Clarence
Macarena García	...	Julia
Alain Hernández	...	Jacobo
Berta Vázquez	...	Bisila
Djédjé Apali	...	Iniko (as Djedje Apali)
Daniel Grao	...	Manuel
José María Kimbo	...	Ose
Fernando Cayo	...	Garuz
Celso Bugallo	...	Kilian mayor
Petra Martínez	...	Julia mayor
Luis Callejo	...	Gregorio
José Manuel Poga	...	Marcial
Serge Happi	...	Simón
Michael Batista	...	Laha

Storyline

Killian is a young man who has never left the remote mountains of Huesca (Spain) which saw him grow up. In 1953, he travels back to the exotic Equatorial African island of Fernando Poo, in Spanish Guinee, where he was born, to work in a cacao plantation alongside his father and his brother. During 20 years in this island, until the troubled days of independence, he will undertake a journey towards maturity and knowledge, but will also have to deal with pain and loss.

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Plot Keywords:

prostitution | breasts | native nudity | female nudity | public nudity | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish Kriolu Aragonese

Release Date:

25 December 2015 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Palmeiras na Neve

Filming Locations:

Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

€10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

€3,104,905 (Spain), 25 December 2015, Wide Release

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nostromo Pictures,Atresmedia Cine,Atresmedia

Technical Specs

Runtime:

163 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mario Casas and Berta Vazquez were a couple in real life.

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Goofs

During the dance club scene, set in 1953/4, the guitarist is playing a custom colour Fender Stratocaster. The Fender Stratocaster was introduced in the USA in 1954, and custom colours weren't available until 1956/7. Also, it if very doubtful any African musician could afford such an instrument. The first Stratocaster didn't reach the UK until 1958.

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Soundtracks

Cast Your Cares
Written by Paul Mottram

User Reviews

No depth given to black characters

Cringeworthy from beginning to end. Overly sexualized black bodies. The movie is all about the seductive, primal power the black women's bodies had over the white men. The black roles barely had any depth or character development. The black women are depicted as facile and oversexed. The black men are overly docile, stupidly superstitious, crazy-eyed angry and savagely violent.

Colonialism (which is essentially theft) is presented as a family business, not the systematic destruction of a country and its people. No one apologizes for it or reflects on it. The white characters are presented as fellow victims of circumstances, not willing participants in evil.

The narrative: Killian abandoned the civilized world to save her; the lighter-skinned (clearly mixed-race), and relatively chaste savage. Their love could only exist in a lawless, uncivilized underworld created by the bloodthirsty slave rebels. A tragic, cautionary tale. This is the same reinforced culturally separatist narrative routinely found in Spanish (and Portuguese) movies.

It's sad that these ill-considered movies are still being released in 2015. Thanks to the ongoing civil rights movement here in the U.S., modern filmmakers can't get away with this reckless narrative anymore.

Cinematography was beautiful, though.