Nursing a broken heart, a man with arachnophobia buys a poisonous bird spider and sets it free in his apartment.
Beware arachnophobics! This film contains a frizzly 8-legged creature. But if you can put your fear away for a few minutes, this would be the perfect opportunity not to miss an incredible short by Jaime Dezcallar.
As a little kid Jaime read a short story by Mexican writer Juan José Arreola and it got stuck in the back of his mind since then. When he presented the story to his producer, she encouraged him to write a short script out of it, and finally shot the short film right after finishing film school in New York City, and completing it in Madrid in 2011.
Shooting with a spider could be just as itching as it sounds. Having filmed during a very hot summer, with 20 people crammed in a small studio apartment with no air conditioning and a poisonous spider.
The spider was not deadly poisonous, but poisonous enough. It would expel itchy hair to defend itself so whenever we plugged a fan, the hair would fly in the air and all the team would start scratching fiercely.
– Jaime Dezcallar
The story shows an incredible work of immaculate symbolism and comparison between a profound phobia and the fear losing one you loved. The cinematography is simple but effective and beautiful, adding a strong visual to each narrated snippet.
My goal with the short film was to move the audience. To make them feel things while they where watching. So all my efforts went in that direction. I’m very happy for how people have accepted the film.