In the near future, in which defeatism and indifference seem to permeate everything, Sergio decides to save his life. If you don't take action soon, the sex and drug cocktail you're hooked on could completely sink you.
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The unconditional loyalty of her best friend and the help of a therapist play in her favor. Against him, the shadow of his parents, killed in an environmental catastrophe, inviting him to leave the world of the living and enter the darkness with them.
The leak of classified information so far, of a huge worldwide impact, will hit Sergio directly and will be a definite obstacle in his fight to regain control of his life before it is too late.
PACO RUIZ: DIRECTOR AND SCRIPTWRITER
Paco Ruiz was born in Madrid and grew up in the corridors of his neighborhood video store. Today he is a post-production operator ("The year of discovery", "Anti-riot", "Patria") who has directed music videos for indie bands such as Espíritusanto or Pan Total. In addition, during the years in which he lived in Berlin, he was VJ in some of the most legendary clubs in the city and participated as a video artist in several international exhibitions.
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In 2020 he directed the short film “Tres Times”, a candidate for the Goya Awards 2021 in the category of Best Fiction Short Film, selected in more than 30 national and international festivals. He also wins, among others, the Best New Author Award at the Elche International Independent Film Festival and the awards for Best National Short Film and Best Short Screenplay.
WHEN WILL THE WORLD END?
These are difficult times: after the Second Explosion, a natural catastrophe that occurred a few years ago, defeatism and riots have permeated all of society. It is in this context that, ironically, our protagonist decides to save his life. The setting in which “Forever” takes place could be inscribed in the territory of the dystopian present, in the style of “Black Mirror”: it is not the present, but it is not a distant future either. Our characters move in a world in which the fear of a Third Explosion, of fatal dimensions, is palpable in each daily gesture.
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When will the world end? Some will say that it ended a long time ago and that what has remained is this present deprived of purposes, in which it makes no sense to cultivate anything for the future. The city acquires a brutalist and grayish character, of an abandonment similar to the London of "Children of Men", which evokes the most depressed Central European imaginary. The night, lit by neon lights and 24-hour shops, will be a territory as dangerous as it is tempting.
DANCE TO THE END
These are difficult times: after the Second Explosion, a natural catastrophe that occurred a few years ago, defeatism and riots have permeated all of society. It is in this context that, ironically, our protagonist decides to save his life. The setting in which “Forever” takes place could be inscribed in the territory of the dystopian present, in the style of “Black Mirror”: it is not the present, but it is not a distant future either. Our characters move in a world in which the fear of a Third Explosion, of fatal dimensions, is palpable in each daily gesture.
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When will the world end? Some will say that it ended a long time ago and that what has remained is this present deprived of purposes, in which it makes no sense to cultivate anything for the future. The city acquires a brutalist and grayish character, of an abandonment similar to the London of "Children of Men", which evokes the most depressed Central European imaginary. The night, lit by neon lights and 24-hour shops, will be a territory as dangerous as it is tempting.
CHEMSEX: SEX, SILENCE AND DEATH
Declared a public health problem by the authorities of several European capitals, chemsex is a scourge that keeps numerous NGOs and Drug Addiction Help Centers overwhelmed in our country. Encounters between homosexual men, generally of the upper-middle class and in their thirties and forties, in which sex is accompanied by the consumption of hard drugs, sometimes injecting.
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Sessions that can last for hours and days, in which many of the attendees try to calm their loneliness. As in films like "Rapture", the syringe becomes an object of desire and, at the same time, a twisted monster that knows us perfectly. Because it is part of us.
THE RAYS THAT DO NOT CEASE
In "Forever", Sergio's deceased parents make an appearance, between the fantastic and the supernatural, offering their son the opportunity to accept his defeat and walk with them into the afterlife. This first contact with doom will coincide with the appearance of magenta rays that slowly pass through the air, like a silent threat that never stops. An element that will be mirrored in a multitude of resources throughout “Forever”: in the lasers that bounce between the walls of the nightclub where Sergio works; in the neon lights that light the streets at night; in the infographics that the newscast uses to describe a new event that will change the world; and in the static energy that, as happened in "Melancholia", begins to flood the world when the end is near. A hypnotic element, between the organic and the dreamlike, that will trace the path of our protagonist until the end.
DIRECTOR'S NOTE
Who does not carry some darkness inside? To the typical “I don't know what to write”, I have almost always responded with a: “make it easy: write about yourself”. Connecting with the lights and shadows that one carries within is the best way to a story full of realism and interesting details.
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In "Forever" I have condensed, on the one hand, my experience in the Berlin techno scene. Misfit children turned into young outsiders made a pilgrimage to Berlin in search of a community that would accept them and in which they could develop their identity. Like the protagonists of "120 beats per minute", the characters of "Forever" find in techno a place for encounter, ecstasy and purge. On the other hand, the chemsex problem runs through "Forever" from beginning to end. A cocktail of sex and drugs capable of generating great dependence, absorbing all the energy of its participants, as well as the ability to feel alive and happy. A scourge that is making a dent in the gay community, to which I belong and to which I feel committed.
Paco Ruiz. See IMDB
That Sergio, the protagonist of "Forever", tries to redirect his life at a time when the world seems doomed to end, is an irony that does not go unnoticed by any of the characters. The perception of the end of the world, however, will have different nuances for each of them. Some, in the style of "Children of men", will feel with anguish that the days of humanity are numbered. Others, however, will share a darker perspective, if that is possible. As in "The Leftovers", they will assume that the end is not yet to come, but that it took place long ago, and that what remains after is a completely deprived of purpose, alienated world, in which nothing will ever be the same again.
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In this dystopian scenario the idea of doom can be inscribed quite comfortably. Death will knock on Sergio's door in the same way that the human rabbit from "Donnie Darko" appeared in dreams announcing the end of days. Between this attraction to doom and Sergio's effort to detoxify and save his life, there will be enormous tension. But who does not hide a fight inside?
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Who has not ever felt the urge to jump into the void when faced with an abyss?
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Paco Ruiz, director and screenwriter
THE INHABITANTS OF 'FOREVER'
SERGIO wants to save himself before the drugs kill him. But how can you fight for such a goal when you feel marked by doom? How do you stay alive when your parents invite you to take refuge, together with them, in the world of the dead?
BETTY is always there when needed, ready to lead any revolution, no matter how absurd. Ready to help her friends and save them from the abyss. Because Betty hates, above all, being alone.
Tell LENIN which street you live on and how much your TV costs, and he will tell you who you are. His acid class consciousness contrasts, however, with his infinite indulgence and his ability to judge no one. No matter how many times you fall, Lenin will always be there to help you get up.
From a charitable soul to the protagonist's great nemesis, VANESA's transformation throughout “Forever” will be marked by two unusual traits in a depressed world: her ambition and her fortitude.
CINEMA IMAGINARY
THE SOUNDS OF 'FOREVER'
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PRODUCER'S NOTE
"Forever" is a science fiction film with a strong philosophical and social component. This was the point that most caught my attention from the first moment. The action unfolds in the fairly near future. The story portrays a society that is adrift, aimlessly and without any hope to cling to. A series of supernatural cataclysms have occurred worldwide and neither science, nor all the money in the world, not even a revolution seem to be able to offer a solution for the salvation of our society this time ... The world we know is crumbling and with him all its inhabitants.
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We see some characters asleep, worried that the music will not stop playing, when everything around them has collapsed, but who also struggle to find their place and move forward in this time that they have had to live. And the question arises, was a cataclysm like the one we experienced necessary or were we already lost as a society, as a species, long before everything happened? Do we really control our destiny, or are we much more fragile than we think?
Pedro Lozano. See IMDB
Another very interesting aspect is precisely all the research and aesthetic development of this new unknown world and how to materialize it in images. The games of lights of that new reality where amazing discoveries appear that change everything, our way of understanding reality, physics as we have known it until today. This offers us the freedom to look for a new image language where the design and the VFX will have a subtle but very important weight.
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And finally, our protagonists will take us by the hand throughout this fantastic story so that we ask ourselves a question: is it really worth moving forward at any cost?
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”Forever” was born from Elamedia Estudios itself and is being supported and developed with love and enthusiasm by an extraordinary group of artists and professionals from the sector who are part of our team.
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Pedro Lozano, producer