• Series.HBO betrays and confuses Perry Mason
  • 'Colpaso'.The Apocalypse in eight planes

Who would have said to Manuela Burló Moreno that an unassuming short film like Pipas, a sequence shot where two friends chat about the divine and the human sitting on a bench while they devour the title's dried fruit, would become, seven years later, a HBO series. A custom comedy, says the creator, director and screenwriter of Por H o ​​por B , which debuts today on the platform.

The premise : Belén (Saida Benzal) and Hache (Marta Martín) are two friends of Parla's who, after some time apart, meet again in Malasaña. From the Madrid periphery to the hipster area of the capital. This reunion serves this fiction to talk about the social acceptance, belonging, prejudice or vital precariousness of an entire generation.

"It is a bit autobiographical because I am not from Parla, but I come from Cieza, a town in Murcia, and I came to study cinema in a neighborhood where everything was new to me," says Burló Moreno (1978) in a telephone conversation. « That Malasaña was different, but in essence it is the same: the coolest, the most different clothes, was always there. I always say that now it is a mixture of the children of the Movida and the modern people who have landed. So there is a wonderful Molotov cocktail to explore, ”says the director, six shorts and two films, How to Survive a Farewell (2015) and Rumbos (2016).

Burló Moreno assures that he works comedy from the most practiced naturalness. «For me it was essential that the comedy was in the situation and not in the interpretation. I like to work on the dialogues a lot, that they are so meticulous that they sound super everyday, "says the writer and director. "Manuela does not allow anything to be improvised," says Benzal, in fiction a stunning blonde, Belén, whose style leaves no one indifferent. "At first he said to me, how do I defend this, but it is so genuine and so real, that he wears a leopard jumpsuit with dignity," he jokes. "We are two opposite mega profiles: the blonde, the brunette, the skinny, the fat, but I don't think that her appearance influences the characters very much," continues Martín, the less mindless Hache. Well, after all, and as the three of them affirm in chorus, the heart of the series is the bomb-proof friendship of these two women.

Delusional or absurd situations will then be offered by Malasaña. From second-hand clothing stores that sell currela jumpsuits or flowery ladies' robes to impossible searches for a flat where the ideal landlord is a Brays Efe who likes to walk around naked showing his fuchsia-dyed pubis. Just like its countless urban tribes, which became, in fact, part of the series' landscape. «We had the figuration hired and of course, aesthetics was essential. So when preparing a scene I would approach them and say, put yourself here or there. And while I stopped people, many people answered me, hey, I don't work here. And then I asked them, would you mind going on my series? », Burló Moreno admits to laughter.

The heart of the series is the bombproof friendship of these two women

“As eccentric as many situations seem, they are derived from real experiences. We have not invented that of the goat yoga, "says Benzal, a native of Elche and a neighbor of Malasaña. « It is a very diverse neighborhood where diversity is the charm it has. Go as you go or whatever you are, you will not feel watched, "continues Martín, who was born and raised in Fuenlabrada lived her baptism of modernity recording this series. And Burló Moreno? «I have become gentrified and now I live in Chamberí. I turned 40, the contract expired, so I left: too much noise and too much partying for me », he confesses.

Returning to Por H or por B, the director says that another of the topics she wanted to address is the speed and unreason of some fashions. Which explains as follows. «I premiered the short film Pipas in 2013 and after two years touring festivals and after being nominated for a Goya, I started considering the series. In 2015 someone with Rosalía's aesthetics, an aunt with long nails, colorinchis, golden rings, necklaces, tracksuit and ponytail was a tacky bowling alley and a manual choni. However, now that aesthetic is cool due to the influence of trap and neighborhood looks , ”he says. "The posture, I want and I can not and the frivolity of social networks is another element that, obviously, is addressed in the series," explains Burló Moreno, who in this world of appearances does not have Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram "for mental health".

In this sense, Benzal highlights the authenticity of the protagonists saying: « They are two super proud girls from Parla who have to face certain characters who believe that they do not belong to Malasaña. But we live with that all the time. All this world of appearances comes from the insecurities of each one, because if you do not have any complex you do not have to pretend what you are not. What could be more beautiful than being happy with yourself, with your origins and with how you are? ».

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Series
  • HBO
  • media

CultureEight series from before for a summer marathon

Communication CEDRO closes an agreement with Huawei, which joins the Squid and Upday news apps to collaborate with the media

UNITED KINGDOMNace Times Radio, the station with which Rupert Murdoch and The Times intend to compete with the BBC

See links of interest

  • Last minute
  • Spanish translator
  • Programming
  • Movies today
  • 2020 calendar
  • Horoscope today
  • League classification
  • Santander League Calendar
  • Cutting notes
  • Themes