Asturian-American Migration Forum

The Orphanage, a film produced by Guillermo del Toro, directed by Antonio Bayona, has just been released here in the US (January 4, 2008).

I saw the film in Xixon last October because the screenplay is by Sergio G. Sanchez, from San Feliz, near the town of Brieves in County Valdes (L.luarca/Luarca). I met Sergio years ago at the international film festival in Xixon. He did his MFA at NYU and his most acclaimed short film is a 17-minute horror story titled '7337' that takes place in a village called Naviel.la (pronounced 'Navietsa'). The dialogues of '7337' are entirely in Asturian.

This is the trailer for The Orphanage, which I think was filmed in the Llanes area of eastern Asturias. Maybe someone in the forum knows exactly where, as I don't have a clue.

http://www.theorphanagemovie.com/

A review in this week's Washington City Paper by Tricia Olszewski of The Orphanage (alas no mention of Asturias, as usual):

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=34367

Oh, what a creepy trailer! It reminds me a little of the short film we saw at the NYC Jornadas Asturianas last winter. Do you remember its name, Is?

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¡Vaya, que avance tan espeluznante! Me recuerda un poco del cortometraje que vimos en las Jornadas Asturianas en NYC el invierno pasado. ¿Is, recuerdas el título?

That's 7337, the short film by Sergio G. Sanchez! I'd forgotten we'd seen it at the Xornaes. He carried quite a bit of the motifs from his short film over to The Orphanage, which is why it struck you as familiar.

Ah, well that makes sense! Thanks!

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¡Oh, ahora tiene sentido! ¡Gracias!