A New Romantic Drama Finds Its Home in Gran Canaria
For the first time, director Beda Docampo has chosen Gran Canaria as the destination to shoot his new film, Antes del Amor (Before Love). This intimate romance delves into the complexities of marriage, featuring a stellar cast led by Roberto Enríquez, Aida Folch, Marta Belmonte, and Juan Grandinetti. “It’s my first time here, and I’m delighted. The people are charming and hardworking, and it’s a welcoming place,” explains the Spanish-Argentine director and screenwriter, who was born in Vigo but raised and built his career in Argentina.
An Idyllic Filming Location
The crew has spent three weeks filming in the Cambalud area of Firgas and other locations around Las Palmas. “Fortunately, everything is going very well. The actors and the crew are phenomenal, and the weather is extraordinary,” says Docampo, who highlights the island’s appeal as a filming location due to its “incredible natural beauty.”
Exploring the Complexities of Love and Marriage
The director explains that the film explores the complexities and contradictions of relationships through the story of “two married couples living in adjacent houses” who become entangled in “a tale of forbidden love.” “It’s a love story—it couldn’t be anything else,” says the filmmaker, who, after studying film in Buenos Aires, had a “stroke of luck” when a script he wrote was ultimately “nominated for an Oscar.” This romantic plot was the first of several in his career.
However, the film also showcases other aspects of these relationships, such as “the difficulties of marriage, issues of money, health, and guilt,” following the spirit of “what the extraordinary Billy Wilder said: ‘It doesn’t matter what brings lovers together; what matters is what pulls them apart.'” Docampo relies on his cast’s talent to give the film “something different that hooks you,” arguing that “films are the actors.” As the title suggests, the movie will also explore what happens “before love.”
Not Your Typical Romantic Comedy
Actor Roberto Enríquez, known for his roles in productions like Vis a Vis, El Embarcadero, and El Desorden Que Dejas, describes the plot as “an intimate story” where events begin to unfold between the members of the two main couples, gradually “affecting their relationships” and generating “fears, anxieties, desires, and needs.”
Enríquez is clear that this story “is not your typical romantic comedy,” as each character carries their own baggage and “things are not rosy, which is much closer to real life.” The actor notes, “These are the kinds of stories that always appeal to me; I think we can all see ourselves in them.” He also highlights that “the Canary Islands have become a natural film set,” having successfully created an entire “film industry infrastructure.” He explains that although cinema is “a complicated sector,” Spain is currently experiencing a “golden age” with “a huge amount of fiction being produced.”
The Cast on Their Characters and the Canary Islands
For actress Aída Folch, known for her roles in the Spanish TV series Cuéntame Cómo Pasó and the film El Artista y la Modelo, this is her first time filming in the Canaries—”but not the last, because I’ll be back in a month to shoot another movie.” It also marks her first romantic film, “a genre that is always very rewarding and much needed.”
Folch defines her character as “a very self-assured woman who enjoys her life, has her career, her home, but her relationship is on shaky ground, and that’s what unravels her.” Her biggest challenge in portraying her has been “finding the right tone—light but also realistic,” though she confesses that the key is always “to return to the essence, to look your partner in the eye, let yourself go, and give truth to the moment.”
Marta Belmonte, who played Silvia Orestes in the series Servir y Proteger, among other roles, emphasizes the chemistry among the cast: “We had seen each other’s work, but we didn’t know each other in person, and it’s been very easy.” The actress believes that “all the characters have something beyond love” and reveals that, referencing the film’s title, “before love, you have to make decisions, you have to see, you have to let yourself go.”
Similarly, Argentine actor Juan Grandinetti, who has worked in film, television, and theater, hints that his character undergoes “a transformation” throughout the film that is “both very motivating and very distressing.” He adds that while the film is about love, it also “touches on themes of loneliness and each person’s individual journey.”
