"Some people attack me when they find out I worked on 'Sirat'"

BarcelonaIn the early hours of Sunday to Monday, Amanda Villavieja (Barcelona, ​​1975), Laia Casanovas (Granollers, 1990) and Yasmina Praderas (Huesca, 1981) could win an Oscar for their work as sound designers for SiradoThe Catalan production directed by Oliver Laxe has won the Oscar for Best Sound for a Spanish film, marking the first time the Oscars have nominated the sound of a Spanish film, as well as the first all-female nomination in the 97-year history of the Academy Awards' sound categories. "It's very exciting," Villavieja summarized a few weeks ago during a video call with her fellow nominees. "We've broken through two barriers; it was very difficult." And there are two more to add: they are the first all-female sound team to win at both the Gaudí and Goya Awards.

"There have always been women on sound teams: boom operators, dialogue editors... But it was harder to find women leading the teams. And thanks to parity policies, this barrier has been broken," explains Casanovas, who points out two facts: there are more women working in sound in Barcelona than in Madrid, and more in Spain than in the United States. "From what my colleagues there have told me, the percentage of women in sound departments is much lower," she adds. "In the United States, film is a big business," Villavieja recalls, "and when there's a lot of money, the people who handle it are usually men."

Casanovas was able to exchange ideas with other sound engineers during the weeks she and Praderas spent promoting the nomination of Sirado in the United States –Villavieja was in Mexico working on a film by Tatiana Huezo–, first as candidates for the shortlist sound and then as Oscar nominees. During these presentations in different cities, they already sensed that the noise of the race cars in the film F1 He was the great rival of SiradoBut also the strengths of the work of Villavieja, Casanovas, and Pradera. "Many sound professionals to whom we presented our work asked us how we had managed to achieve such expressiveness without losing the essence of realistic sound," recalls Vilanova. And this is no coincidence, because this was precisely one of the great challenges of sound in Sirado, the aesthetic pulse that marked the work of the sound engineers.

A realistic and spectacular sound

Villavieja, responsible for live sound, was the first to join the production of SiradoHe has been part of Oliver Laxe's trusted team since working on his film. MimosasAnd he immediately realized that the Galician's new project implied a change in the conception of sound.Sirado It's conceived as an adventure film, a road movie"And that already sets it apart from Oliver's previous projects and leads me to imbue the trucks, spaces, and landscapes with a specific emotion." For Casanovas, who joins as sound designer in the post-production phase, the goal was that Sirado It was "an immersive film" despite the mix of genres ("There are moments of thriller, western"...terror...", he points out) and, therefore, it was necessary to add "an extra layer of intensity" to the viewer's emotional journey. "Although we started from reality and worked with organic sound, the key was to make it as expressive and spectacular as possible, but without it sounding like an extremely post-produced film, preserving realism," Casanovas explains. "That is, to find the maximum expressiveness in an unmanipulated and unprocessed sound."

This sonic ambition was not understood from the outset by the entire team of SiradoVillavieja recalls that when Laxe's most trusted collaborators, such as screenwriter Santi Fillol or cinematographer Mauro Herce, came to the mixing room, alarm bells would ring: "Aren't you going for a sound that's too spectacular?" they would ask, worried. Villavieja didn't see it as a challenge, but rather as a "very interesting" debate between departments. Nor was it a fear of working within the conventions of genre cinema, a desire that stemmed from Laxe himself. "Oliver has admitted that he had many fears, but not of going into genre, but of sounding like a film." mainstream "American," says Casanovas. "And I think what's special about the film's sound is that we've achieved this fusion of auteur cinema, more documentary-style, and the spectacular forms of commercial cinema, but keeping the best of both worlds."

Abducted by the 'rave'

Praderas, who has lived in Barcelona for over twenty years, is responsible for the final mix, and she takes the different sound elements to try to capture everything "in the most impressionistic way possible." "The mix of the radish At first it was a challenge, because it's only 20 minutes, and it's important to experience the emotions of the community. raver “You have to navigate this entire soundscape, introducing the atmosphere, the dialogue, and the music,” Praderas explains, “and make it all immersive.” In this scene, Casanovas points out, the challenge was that the radish of Sirado "it was a radish "authentic." "The images had so much truth that we needed the sound to have that truth too," says Casanovas. "Amanda recorded from many distances where there were different resonances to see how the sound behaved." sound system about space. And to recreate it, we recorded Kangding Ray's music through speakers like those in the film, to capture that wall of sound that the sound system of the radish and feel ourselves inside." Villavieja adds that the sequence of the radish Its objective is to "abduct the viewer for 20 minutes" and then take them on an adventure, delivering a shock that empties everything of meaning, and from that moment on, everything begins to resonate."

For now, being nominated for an Oscar hasn't changed their lives or careers. They haven't received any offers from Hollywood... Or at least none that can be shared in an interview. The three sound engineers do acknowledge, however, that they are open to new professional challenges. "It would be a dream to work in Hollywood, but above all to have resources," says Casanovas. Sirado We fought for it and in the end we got the budget, but in many projects you don't have the resources and the time to achieve excellence." For Villavieja, in any case, the priority would be to work "with directors who really want to work creatively with sound during filming." "I work on set, on location sound, and it's location sound. So I try to find films that allow me to be as happy as possible," Villavieja explains.

Is there a specific way of working with sound in Catalan auteur cinema? Villavieja knows it well, since he debuted in film in 2001 with Under construction, by José Luis Guerin, and has subsequently worked frequently with filmmakers such as Isaki Lacuesta and Neus Ballús. "I believe we do have our own way of working, which stems from the bond established with these directors, who are friends," Villavieja explains. "This already comes from the creative documentary master's program at Pompeu Fabra University, where it emerged." Under construction"There, I didn't feel like just a sound engineer; for me, sound was very much linked to directing, I can't separate the two." Casanovas sounds closer to commercial cinema than Villavieja, thanks to her work with Oriol Tarragó, one of Catalonia's great sound designers, for whom she was an assistant. "Catalan cinema has many. And working for Jaume Balagueró is not the same as working for Cesc Gay." And just because they are different doesn't mean one should give less importance to sound than the other.Strange river "It's auteur cinema and has a very strong sonic expressiveness," Villavieja points out. "Ultimately, the sound of films is connected to the people who dream them up, because they imagine them visually but also sonically."

Designed for cinema

One of the joys that Sirado It has given sound engineers their success in movie theaters, which has showcased sound work more than ever. "Now that movies are being televised and everything tends to be explained through dialogue, I'm very grateful to have worked on Sirado"It's a film conceived and made for cinemas," says Casanovas. For Praderas, it was "very exciting to see how people listened to and appreciated the film's sound." All three highly value the phenomenon that has surrounded it. Sirado Since its premiere at Cannes. "Suddenly you realize that a type of cinema that initially seemed to be niche can also function at the same level as commercial cinema," says Villavieja, who has been surprised by Laxe's rise to media stardom. "He didn't appear in the media before, but now suddenly you see him everywhere and he's constantly on Instagram; the change is enormous."

The three admit, in fact, to having received "a ton" of Laxe memes on their phones in recent months, and they have also noticed the polarization of opinions surrounding the film. "I see it as a positive thing; it's good not to please everyone," Casanovas points out. "It's normal when it's such an emotional and sensory film. I understand both the detractors and the enthusiasts, because if you let yourself go, it takes you to incredible places, but if you don't, it can generate rejection." Be that as it may, they believe that the division of opinions has fueled the phenomenon of Sirado"There are people who attack me when they find out I've worked in Sirado"As if I had done something to them," Villavieja explains. "It's a film that provokes very visceral reactions. And this is amplified by Oliver becoming a public figure, because we live in the age of..." hatefulnessBut deep down, it's nice that such diverse opinions exist."