Ivan Noel
Ivan Noel is an Spanish producer and director, known for They Returned (2015), In Your Absence (2008) and Primaria (2010). He originally started in the arts by writing and performing his own musical compositions. The transition from music to film came from his love for combining and juxtaposing the two art forms in order to make something greater than the two by themselves.
“I was having a hard time finding the sort of films to put my own music to, so I began shooting small scenes for specific pieces of mine. From small scenes I made short movies, then eventually went on to write and produce feature films. All that just to showcase my music! There must have been a cheaper way, but it was more fun this way.”
–Ivan Noel[1]
Since those first small scenes, he has gone on to release six feature films. All of the movies, despite their different plots, characters, and other thematic elements, share the commonality of confronting moral issues without yielding to the conventions of political correctness.
Early Life
Noel was born in 1970 in France and his given name was Yves Noel. He began making films at age 11, using an eleven millimeter camera and 200 students at his school in Brussels as extras. He has a BA in education and composing soundtracks from the University of York and began his career as professor in the field of music, composing and giving concerts as a solo classical guitarist and piano player.
Flim making
Noel entered the audiovisual world first through the production of short films. In 2006 he decided to sell his house to finance the filming of his first feature film, In your absence ( 2008 ). About that film he said he is in debt to the realism of director Ken Loach . This film was shot between Jerez and the Sierra de Cádiz. This is a low budget production made with unknown actors, but it woke the interest of critics. The film was featured in several festivals, including Vancouver , Palm Springs , Chicago, Bahamas, Athens , etc. In Vacouver the film finished fifth out of more than 200 films. Vanguard International Cinema distributed the film in North America, and it came to be among the top ten Spanish best sellers DVDs by this company. Interestingly, the film has not been released or distributed in Spain.
For the next project, the director moved to a town of Seville, Lebrija. He lived there for a year to study the local people so that cast them correctly. For funding, Noel, lacking a budget, raised the money through sponsorships and donations. He arranged free rentals of shooting locations and the actors volunteered to work for free. It was recorded during the summer of 2008, and was released in 2009 with the title of Brecha. The film was received with great enthusiasm in it's early premieres.
In 2010 he released Primary!, his third feature film. He shot it in the school San Francisco de Paula in Seville. He spent a year there teaching the children art. Noel defines the film as "a comedy about the bowels of the primary starring three students, Jose Joaquin, Carlos and Carmen." The film also portrays the life of the faculty, focusing mainly on three of them. Noel manages to convey the personal lives of these teachers beyond their work without reaching the use of narration.
With Vuelve, released in 2012, Noel gives a twist to his career with a thriller horror. Filmed in Argentina , it is about a boy who loses his mother under strange circumstances. She communicates with him from beyond the grave, seeking a reunion. With this film Noel departed from his realistic and intimate style, seeming to seek commercial success.
His next project, Limbo, released in 2013, follows the same style as Vuelve. In these last two films, childhood is no longer the main theme but rather he is using his films as a means to impact the viewer.
Noel has also made video clips. In 2012 he made one for Icelandic band Sigur Ros .
List of Films
- En tu Ausencia (aka In Your Absence) (2008)
- Brecha (2009)
- Primaria (aka Primary!) (2010)
- Vuelve (2013)
- Limbo (aka Children of the Night (2014)
- They Returned (aka Ellos Volvieron) (2015)
- Rodillas_Quemadas_(Film) (Currently in production)
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