- The Spanish director and actor presents the world premiere at the 71st SEMINCI Film Festival of the documentary he co-directed with his wife, Marta Solaz, and Verónica Díaz Pérez.
- The film follows Peris-Mencheta as he directs a play during his recovery from leukaemia, highlighting the healing and transformative power of art
The 71st SEMINCI hosted the world premiere of SerYo, a Spain-U.S. co-production collectively directed by Verónica Díaz Pérez, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, and his wife, actress and multidisciplinary artist Marta Solaz. The co-directors traveled to Valladolid to present their film, accompanied by producer Andreu Buenafuente (El Terrat) and actor and director Juan Diego Botto.
One of the six films making up this year’s Special Screenings program, SerYo is a bold film in which we witness firsthand the cancer treatment of its protagonist and co-director, Sergio Peris-Mencheta. “I hadn’t planned on being more creatively active than ever while battling a terminal illness, but when you’re facing the lion head-on, you have little to lose and much to gain. When I decided to shoot the documentary, it stemmed from the need to leave my story behind for my children to see in the future. But I soon realized it was something much bigger—something that allowed me to step back from myself and put everything into perspective a little. This film has been my salvation,” the actor and director shared with deep emotion.
9,000 km Away
Peris-Mencheta, who has appeared in Hollywood productions alongside actors such as Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Antonio Banderas, and Helen Mirren, invites us with SerYo to enter his most intimate world, allowing a camera to film him as he continues to direct rehearsals for a play in Madrid from a hospital in Los Angeles.
The play in question is 14.4, a long-standing collaboration between Peris-Mencheta and Juan Diego Botto, in which they tell the story of Ahmed Younoussi, who arrived in Spain at the age of nine, hidden under a truck. “It was a very distressing and complex process, but also a very beautiful one in hindsight. We always say that art heals; it’s a tool that allows us to get to know ourselves and reflect aspects of our society on stage. But in this case, it was something more: theater was a source of comfort for Sergio; it was almost the best pain reliever to help him get through the toughest moments,” Botto explained.
Distance was also a factor to consider in the six-handed co-direction. “It was very hard being 9,000 km away. From afar, I could only sense that strong bond between Sergio and Marta and tell them, ‘Record everything.’ That’s what they did, and thanks to that, we have some real gems in the film,” commented Verónica Pérez Díaz. To which Marta Solaz added: “Vero was essential. She provided the objectivity we needed to balance our own subjectivity as we experienced everything firsthand. Even though we were far away, we formed a directing trio that was necessary to bring the documentary to life.”
Creating to Heal
The healing power of artistic creation lies at the heart of Peris-Mencheta’s project; she finds in her love for theater a driving force for her recovery. SerYo is thus presented as a luminous film that shows how, in the midst of adversity and pain, it is possible to maintain the will to live thanks to the art we create and the support networks we build.
“It’s the most exciting project I’ve ever worked on in my life,” said Andreu Buenafuente, who joined the project from the very moment Peris-Mencheta sent him a voice note explaining what she wanted to do. “Sometimes we forget that a documentary is about documenting life. And when we do that, we don’t know how it’s going to end. I always highlight two things about this project: Sergio’s struggle to document everything that happens to him and the love song he composes for the theater. I think it’s a documentary that should be shown in theater schools to demonstrate what it means to love art,” added the producer.
