“I don’t know my neighbors. There is a wall between us,” muses immigrant handyman Moha (Mohamed Mellali) in voiceover in Neus Ballús’ deceptively modest, gently ingenious third feature, “The Odd-Job Men.” “Water, electricity, gas, telephone. Our building is connected to all the others in the city and to all the other cities. And yet, we’re still alone.” It’s a nicely bittersweet summation of this crookedly charming film’s central preoccupation with connection — tentatively formed and easily broken — between people separated as much by biases, culture, language and ethnicity as they are by the walls of their apartments. And who better to observe, maintain and repair some of those connections than the plumbers, electricians and builders we invite into our homes to service our utilities, to tile our splashbacks and de-ice the AC.
The job of the traveling repairman is indeed an odd one in that it requires...
The job of the traveling repairman is indeed an odd one in that it requires...
- 10/15/2021
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
It’s an important week for three handymen in Barcelona. Pep (Pep Sarrà) is retiring after decades on the job. Moha (Mohamed Mellali) is showing what he can do as his potential replacement. And Valero (Valero Escolar) is left to reconcile their swap’s extreme change to his routine with an empty stomach due to a last-minute attempt to lose weight before a family member’s wedding that weekend. There’s a bit of “old man yelling at clouds” with Pep’s last hurrah providing the opportunity to tell builders how bad they are at their craft, some nervousness as far as Moha learning to balance politeness and professionalism when clients interrupt his work, and a lot of griping thanks to Valero’s petulant desire to sabotage every effort to make this transition smooth.
The result is six days of a volatile dynamic made worse by customers met along the way.
The result is six days of a volatile dynamic made worse by customers met along the way.
- 9/9/2021
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
The film stars Mohamed Mellali, Valero Escolar and Pep Sarra.
Screen can exclusively reveal the first international trailer for Neus Ballus’ Catalan comedy-drama The Odd-Job Men, which has been selected for Locarno’s international competition and Toronto’s Contemporary World Cinema strand.
The film follows three handymen who spend a week going from door-to-door in Barcelona to fix whatever is broken, and stars Mohamed Mellali, Valero Escolar and Pep Sarra.
Ballus, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Margarita Melgar, previously directed 2019 Berlin Panorama title Staff Only and 2013 debut The Plague, selected in Berlin’s Forum.
The Odd-Job Men is produced...
Screen can exclusively reveal the first international trailer for Neus Ballus’ Catalan comedy-drama The Odd-Job Men, which has been selected for Locarno’s international competition and Toronto’s Contemporary World Cinema strand.
The film follows three handymen who spend a week going from door-to-door in Barcelona to fix whatever is broken, and stars Mohamed Mellali, Valero Escolar and Pep Sarra.
Ballus, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Margarita Melgar, previously directed 2019 Berlin Panorama title Staff Only and 2013 debut The Plague, selected in Berlin’s Forum.
The Odd-Job Men is produced...
- 7/30/2021
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Even before the Spanish release of her second film, Staff Only, the Catalan director is already shooting her third, a comedy starring non-professional actors. 20 May saw the start of the shoot for Seis días Corrientes (lit. “Six Ordinary Days”), the third feature by Neus Ballús, whose feature debut, The Plague, got a very warm reception indeed. Furthermore, Ballús was at the most recent edition of the Berlin Film Festival (in the Panorama section) with Staff Only, her second movie, which was shot in Senegal and was toplined by Sergi López (the feature is set to be released in France on 17 July and in Spain on 20 September). With a screenplay penned by the director herself and Margarita Melgar (the pen name of scriptwriters Montse Ganges and...
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