This film directed by the resident of the Gala Foundation, Javier Macipeand with photography direction from Cordoba Alvaro Medina, tells the story of the ill-fated musician Mauricio Aznarsinger of the group Más Birras and author of the song Bet on Rock ‘n’ roll that made famous Heroes of Silence. The film has its origins when Mauricio Aznar’s own mother contacted the director almost twenty years ago, after ruling out the possibility of making the film with Carlos Saura due to not reaching an agreement.

a fiction film

The Blue Star It is not a documentary nor a musical, but a fiction film “which has something of a Karate Kid learning between a Spanish rockabilly with some addiction problems and an elderly indigenous man from the interior of Argentina,” explained Macipe. “Practically There is no precedent for a fiction film about music in this country wheresuch complex scenes have been filmed live», declared its director, Javier Macipe.

“To achieve this, we have devised pioneering technical solutions that generate an immersive experience in concert scenes,” he detailed. For its part, the director of photography, Álvaro Medina, He acknowledges that these moments have been a real challenge for him, “in some cases because the camera makes very complicated movements, in others because of the complexity involved in recording sequence shots in which the actions within live rock concerts overlap with more than 600 extras. In addition to Zaragoza, a large part of the film is shot in Santiago del Estero and Cerro Colorado (province of Córdoba- Argentina).

The musical scenes were shot with the maximum realism possiblewhich required the team to use sound, filming and cameras from the 90s for the setting. All of these performances are also recorded live, without using playback. The collaboration between Álvaro Medina and Javier Macipe began more than ten years ago. Since then it has led to a multitude of audiovisual works, such as video clips, documentaries or fiction short films. One of themExpenses includedwas nominated for the Goya Awards in 2021. «My way of working as a director of photography is marked by Macipe’s vision of cinema, far from fashions and industrial cinema, but at the same time capable of creating very entertaining and beautiful films» Medina pointed out.

Synopsis of the film

90’s. Mauricio, a famous Spanish rocker, travels through Latin America looking to rediscover his vocation. There he meets Don Carlos, an elderly musician in low times who, despite being the author of some of the most famous songs in his country’s folklore, barely manages to pay his bills. Carlos generously welcomes the strange visitor, acting as Musical Master Miyagi. From their encounter, an extravagant quixotic duowith all the signs of being an absolute commercial failure.

Distribution of film

The distribution of The Blue Star is headed by the actor Pepe Lorenteknown for his roles in series such as Elite, The Ministry of Time either Loving in Troubled Times; also in movies like The kingdom, by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, or The Maternal, by Pilar Palomero. The Zaragoza-born performer plays Mauricio Aznar while, curiously, the role of Carlos Carabajal, who died in 2006, falls to his own brother, Cuti Carabajal. On the part of the Spanish cast, the feature film also features the winner of the Goya for best new actress in 2018, Bruna Cusi; with Marc Rodriguez (Mathausen’s photographer), either Catalina Sopelana (Manticore, Model 77, Sky Red). And with respect to the Argentine cast, it is worth highlighting the appearance of Carlos Carabajal’s great-niece, the singer Mariela Carabajal. Her grandfather Héctor was a musician for Atahualpa Yupanqui.