'Upon Entry': how a modest 'thriller' that cost 100 times less than 'The Snow Society' sneaked into the Goya

It was rejected by powerful platforms, by some of the main film festivals in the world, from Venice to Sundance, and by practically all independent distributors in Spain.

But

Upon Entry

has

been able to do everything to break down the barriers that prevented it from reaching the general public.

Slowly but surely, the directorial debut of Alejandro Rojas (48 years old) and Juan Sebastián Vásquez (43), two Venezuelan filmmakers with no experience beyond editing and cinematography, has surprisingly become one of the titles of the year in Spanish cinema.

Despite not appearing in the majority of pools, the film, starring a couple lost in the Kafkaesque labyrinth of immigration bureaucracy in the United States, has been sneaking into the nominations for all the season's awards.

Upon Entry

aspires to three Goya nominations that will be awarded this Saturday (best actor for Alberto Ammann, novel direction and original screenplay), after having been nominated for best film at the Forqué and winning the awards for best screenplay at the Gaudí and in the Feroz.

Not to mention its three nominations (best first feature, first screenplay and editing) for the Independent Spirit Awards, which reward films produced outside the major studios since 1984 (and in which they will compete with titles such as

May/December

, by Todd Haynes).

Quite a feat, considering that the film was not even released in American theaters (it was released on the Tubi platform, which has 74 million subscribers).

More information

Review / 'Upon Entry': brilliant exercise in tension

To understand the phenomenon, you have to go back to the beginning.

It all started eight years ago, when those responsible began to write a script inspired by their own experiences as migrants.

The directors had become friends years before, when they worked for HBO Latin America, which was then based in Caracas, and had emigrated to Spain for different reasons: Vásquez to study at ESCAC, the prestigious Barcelona film school;

and Rojas, who lived in London, because he had part of his family living in the city.

Finding financing was not easy.

“We had everything against us: we were two Venezuelans living in Barcelona who aspired to make a film shot in three languages ​​and that took place in a single setting,” the directors say, in two voices, on a sunny terrace in the Gràcia neighborhood.

They also faced “the

light

racism ” that exists in the sector.

“No one has thrown stones at us, but they have asked us what we had lost in Spain,” says one.

“There were those who told us that the script seemed like a Venezuelan soap opera,” the other seconded.

The filmmakers Juan Sebastián Vásquez and Alejandro Rojas, directors of 'Upon Entry', last week in Barcelona. Gianluca Battista

The film talks about the couple formed by Diego and Elena, a Venezuelan urban planner and a Catalan dancer who aspire to start a new life in the United States.

But nothing will go as planned.

Upon disembarking at Newark airport, the police will interrogate them for hours in a cell—“a non-place,” say its directors, “in which a 60-minute sequence takes place”—and will bring to light secrets that will make their desire to change countries and even their own union will falter.

It is worth seeing in history a chronicle of the closure of the Trump years.

“Although it was not easier to enter the United States with Obama as president,” Rojas and Vásquez clarify.

The project was born as a short film, until they realized that they had a feature film on their hands.

I would talk about a supposedly privileged immigration that also comes face to face with borders that are closed.

With Carles Torras (

Callback, The Practitioner

) enlisted as producer and Ammann confirmed as the lead, they began searching for the actress who would play Elena.

They found her in Bruna Cusí, revealed with

Estiu 1993

and since then becoming one of the thriving faces of Spanish cinema.

“By the time I got to page six of the script, I knew I wanted to do it.

She talked about the abuses of power at the borders, but also about the psychopathic system that governs this world,” Cusí recalls on another terrace in the upper area of ​​Barcelona.

The next day, she participated in “an undercover audition” over Skype with the directors, who cast her shortly after her.

To underscore the realism the story demanded, Cusí signed up for dance classes for three months to shape “Elena's body, erected by her European privilege.”

She also liked that it lasted only 74 minutes, another of the keys to its success.

“There is a trend of making three-hour films, when not all stories require it,” says Cusí.

For the directors of 'Upon Entry', racism and prejudice also exist in Spanish cinema.

“No one has thrown stones at us, but they have asked us what we had lost in Spain,” they say.

Filming took place in February 2022 for only 17 days and with a limited budget, around 600,000 euros (for comparison,

The Snow Society

cost 60 million, according to estimates).

After its applauded passage through festivals such as Tallinn, Malaga or South by Southwest – a prestigious Austin event where the powerful Texas migrant community was liked – the film was released in June 2023 with only 50 prints.

“It wasn't bad, but it wasn't a success either,” acknowledges producer Carles Torras.

“There was fear on the part of the exhibitors and it had a modest start.

But, despite losing, when people see her, they always value her.

At the end of the film, we have seen applause and visceral reactions around the world,” he adds.

Several companies offered to distribute it “under unacceptable conditions” (that is, for free).

Until Karma, specialized in independent cinema and supporter in Spain of the films of Paolo Sorrentino and Jacques Audiard, decided to bet on it.

“Its box office was discreet, although not disastrous: 20,000 spectators,” says Torras.

“In the cinema it did not meet expectations, but its arrival on platforms catapulted it as one of the films of the year,” says Filmin's editorial director, Jaume Ripoll.

The real avalanche did not arrive until October, with its landing on Movistar and, above all, on Filmin, where it became the most viewed Spanish film of 2023 by its users.

“In the cinema it did not meet expectations, but its arrival on

streaming

catapulted it as one of the films of the year,” confirms Filmin's editorial director, Jaume Ripoll.

“It is a short, concept film, with brilliant actors and effective script twists, and it talks about issues that challenge us all.

It looks great and is talked about even better, which explains the word of mouth.”

After this second life, it may still have a third: Netflix will add it to its catalog at the end of 2024, which will show it to an audience of millions of viewers.

Although his main achievement could be that he has paved the way for Latin American directors residing in Spain, virtually absent from the cinematographic panorama.

“If it helps others to follow, all this will have been worth it,” say Rojas and Vásquez, who are also planning new projects together and separately.

“We are not going to be the Coens or the Javis, but we want to continue.”

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