Filming of 'Who saw the temples fall' ends, the film that rescues the figure of Chorrojumo

To culminate the four years of the Official Degree in Cinematography at ESCAC (Higher School of Cinema and Audiovisual of Catalonia), the young filmmaker from Granada, Lucía Alonso Santos, has just faced the challenge of getting behind a camera, directing a team and tell their first story through images and sounds. A real challenge that he has been able to take on in his own land and through a character that was very familiar to him, Mariano Fernández Santiago 'Chorrojumo', the popular man from Granada who was born in 1824 and who, according to legend, was struck down by lightning in the forests of the Alhambra.

Now, 115 years after his death, Chorrojumo has returned to walk in his Goyaesque suit, his long sideburns and his callao through the streets and squares of Granada, under the astonished gaze of tourists and the people of Granada themselves. Plaza Isabel la Católica, Calle Reyes Católicos, the Fuente de las Batallas or the Mirador de San Nicolás have been some of the locations for this medium-length film, produced by ESCAC Films --the production company of the Film School of Catalonia-- as one of the Final Degree Projects of the 2017/2021 promotion and that after months of pre-production has just finished filming in Granada.

The miracle of the resurrection of Chorrojumo has been the merit, first of all, of Lucía Alonso herself, author of the original script and direction, but also of her colleagues from ESCAC, who have worked as a team assuming all the functions of a professional filming, of the financing of the School itself, and finally, of the support of local institutions and companies, mainly the Film in Granada film office of the Diputación, the Granada City Council, Covirán and Cervezas Alhambra.

The first vice-president and deputy for Culture, Fátima Gómez, has pointed out that "the main objective of Film in Granada is to facilitate all kinds of filming and recording in our province, not only feature films and large series, but also smaller projects , like this one at ESCAC, which has been a first and great experience for a group of young filmmakers, who will surely return to Granada to shoot their future professional projects".

The producer of the film, Guillem Mula, has highlighted that "the shooting has been a constant ups and downs of very strong emotions and it is the most complex we have faced up to now, because we have had to manage a quantity of material and staff that we were not used to.However, everyone in Granada has turned to us, from the institutions themselves, the Diputación and the City Council, our sponsors Covirán and Cervezas Alhambra, to small local businesses and many individuals from Granada ".

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— Lighter Capital Fri Jul 28 16:16:13 +0000 2017

Nostalgia for the old Granada

"The inhabitants who inhabit this land fell into an eternal lethargy and no longer remember who they are, nor what place this is. Now they live in a time without history, in a "Time without time. What is left of us? Who will remember us when there is nothing left of us?" .

The director has stated that "after four years studying and living in Barcelona, ​​I have managed to bring ESCAC to Granada, because this film tries to explore the relationship between identity, space and the community that inhabits it, and I wanted to do it in my own city, comparing the past and the present, the old Granada with the current Granada".

Who saw the temples fall tells the story of Chorrojumo, a legendary character who has been wandering the streets of Granada in silence for 183 years and laments the fall of the city. The infinite limbo inhabited by the protagonist, played by non-professional actor José Fernández 'Pepín', is interrupted by the arrival of a young Moroccan (Anad Derbai) who carries an old key in his hands. Together they will begin a journey through the ruins, spaces that have disappeared or are in transition, of present-day Granada, in search of the house of the young man's ancestors, the last expelled Moors, of whom he still retains some memories.

The film was shot entirely during eleven days in the city of Granada, with the support of a technical team of 15 people and a 16-millimeter Arriflex camera. It is one of the ten end-of-degree projects selected by ESCAC for 2021. It is now entering the post-production phase and is scheduled to premiere in Granada and Barcelona in spring 2022.