Emilio Martínez-Lázaro has presented his latest film, ‘Un hípster en la España vacía’, a portrait of the rural world and a critique of excesses and political claptrap that competes in the Official Section as a romantic comedy.

Martínez-Lázaro explained at a press conference that the feature film turned into a romantic comedy without trying to do so. He assured that he never thought that the public would laugh out loud at his films because he considers that he writes comedies without intending to. 'I don't make comedies, I just make films. I just came up with comedies because it's my way of writing and telling stories. Until the audience watches the film and the laughter starts, you never know', he said. Likewise, he emphasised that criticism is his nature, which is why it is present throughout the film.

He also highlighted that the village where the story takes place is fictional, but very real because the characters really exist. The filming took place in the Aragonese town of Fuentespalda, which 'although apparently not the most typical of empty Spain, people have mysteriously left'.

When looking for the location, the team considered that it should not be too beautiful so that it would not be full of tourists, but that it would not look bad on screen either. In addition, they wanted to break the trend of filming in Madrid or Barcelona to show the beauty of other, more unknown places.

The actor Lalo Tenorio plays Quique, the main character in the film, who is charged with leading the politics of empty Spain in a village in Teruel, but he doesn't know where to start. He is faced with a town willing to take him for a ride on his modern proposals and quickly discovers that sending him there is a plan by his girlfriend and the leader of his party to be together. He can only rely on his good will and on Lourdes, the barmaid, who wants to prevent him from being ridiculous and understands that the key to his success lies in learning to listen to his neighbours.

Tenorio admitted that there are many figures in public life that the audience can find parallels with his character. Tenorio is joined in the cast by actresses Berta Vázquez and Macarena García. Both have described their characters as two women with very different but complementary qualities, as a kind of opposites that end up balancing each other out. García has found it a challenge to get into the skin of a character who goes beyond the norm.

Both the director and the producers revealed that the town was so enthusiastic about the filming that it became a kind of natural film set. And they highlighted that one of the negative aspects was the discomfort of working in a place that is not well communicated.

The filmmaker made his directorial debut with ‘Las palabras de Max’ in 1978, which won the Golden Bear in Berlin. Since then, he has mixed commercial and critical successes. Among the former we find ‘El otro lado de la cama’, which won the Biznaga de Oro Award at the Malaga Festival, and its sequel ‘Los dos lados de la cama’, which earned 20 million euros. Among the latter, ‘Las 13 rosas’, winner of four Goya Awards and nominated for a dozen more. He also directed ‘Ocho apellidos vascos’, the most successful Spanish film in the history of Spanish film, and its sequel, ‘Ocho apellidos catalanes’, with a total of fifteen million spectators.