Ana Vide, Ana Olivia Fiol and Estefanía Serra have known each other since they were five years old and forged a strong friendship. They did not know then that years later, Serra would begin to feel symptoms of multiple sclerosis. Nor did they know that Vide and Fiol would help, from their professions linked to art, to make visible and break down prejudices about this disease.
Vide -actress and producer- and Fiol -writer, photographer and scriptwriter-, both Ibicencan, have been the creators of the short film Today is not alwaysinspired by the story of their friend (who is part of the cast). The short film tells the story of Diana, a promising designer who, about to make her debut on an Adlib Ibiza fashion runway, begins to feel symptoms such as trembling hands that prevent her from embroidering her best garments. “Diana embarks, at that moment, on a journey of resilience and self-discovery, determined to redefine her aspirations in the face of unexpected adversity,” says the site Esclerosis Multiple Sclerosis Spain. Hoy no es siempre was screened last December 3, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, at the Pereyra Theater in Ibiza. There was, among other guests, the president of the Balearic Government, Marga Prohenswho told that she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at the age of 19.
“It is a short film full of light and with references that show that, indeed, there are a thousand ways to fight against the disease of a thousand faces,” said the Balearic leader during the presentation, where there were other people with the same disease who told their testimonies. “The support of Marga (Prohens) is very important and above all that she trusted in the project and liked the short film. I was very nervous”, she admits now to La Voz de Ibiza, after qualifying as “a real success” what happened at the Pereyra and the repercussion it had. And while she is waiting to know in which upcoming festivals the short film will be screened.
-What did they hope to achieve?
– We were very clear about a number of things. The first was that we obviously wanted to give visibility to the disease. The important thing is that the viewer goes home with a reflection.
-In what line?
-There is still a lot of ignorance about it. If you don’t have someone close to you, you confuse it with ALS. But it’s rightly called the disease of a thousand faces because everyone can be affected so differently that it has that complexity. And it still needs to be talked about a lot. For example, the girls in the cast, who have multiple sclerosis, can live normal lives. But sometimes they suffer from the inside; they feel so tired that they can’t even get out of bed.
-What lessons have you learned from the production and shooting of the short film?
-In every job you learn a lot. This is my second production and in that field I am learning a lot. In that sense, it has helped me to work in the production with Olivia, for example, or Pablo Alcántara. But, as an actress, I have been inspired by the stories of several women who are part of the cast of Hoy no es siempre, who have the disease. It has been a path together that has inspired me to create the character of Diana. It was clear to me that I wanted to do this work with a lot of respect and delicacy and with a lot of care. I wanted there to be truth in this character. There was a work of internalizing what was done and I hope it was achieved.
Betting on Ibiza
In addition to raising awareness about multiple sclerosis, the project started two and a half years ago by Vide and Fiol pursued other objectives. “We wanted to shoot in Ibiza. And to bring out the Ibiza that we like, to give priority to the wonderful nature we have,” says Vide. But the short film not only highlights places on the island, but has also served to showcase the talent of its inhabitants. “We tried to have a mostly local technical team. We have very valuable people on the island,” he adds. In that sense, he has highlighted professionals such as Xavier Torras for the soundtrack and Paula de Granvar, whom he considers to be among the best nationally in terms of musicalization and art direction, respectively. He also mentions Laura Gumbao (on camera) and, of course, director Carmen Vidal.
On the other hand, Vide emphasized that having Marc Clotet, who plays Diana’s partner, was very important. “We were looking for someone with a special sensitivity. He is a generous actor, it has been a pleasure to work with him. He was the perfect character to bring Diana’s partner to life,” she says. “We have a very valuable team. Each piece is very important for the short film to have the result it has,” he concludes.
