What constitutes a Catalan film? The answer might seem intuitive: a movie spoken in the Catalan language. However, in an increasingly interconnected world where cinema often reflects a multilingual reality, the bureaucratic definition has diverged significantly from audience perception. This disconnect is perfectly illustrated by Molt lluny, the directorial debut of Gerard Oms, which has sparked a fascinating debate regarding language criteria in the arts. Therefore, the Molt Lluny Catalan status hinges on a technical script analysis rather than spoken screen time.
Despite featuring only 11 minutes of spoken Catalan across its 100-minute runtime, the film has been officially classified as an “original Catalan version”. This designation is not merely semantic; it opens the door to specific public funding and eligibility for the prestigious Gaudí Awards in categories reserved for Catalan cinema.
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Home » Molt Lluny Catalan Status: Why a Film with 11 Minutes of Catalan is Official
A Multilingual Mosaic
Molt lluny is an autobiographically inspired drama. It follows an Espanyol football fan who travels to the Netherlands and decides to stay in Utrecht. The protagonist, portrayed by Mario Casas, finds himself isolated in a city where he speaks neither the language nor knows the people.
Reflecting the naturalism of the story, the character speaks Spanish with his family and peers. He uses English with locals in Utrecht. Meanwhile, he communicates in Catalan only with a fellow Catalan classmate from his Dutch lessons, played by David Verdaguer. This narrative choice results in a linguistically diverse soundscape.
The Word Count Technicality
The classification by the Catalan Institute of Cultural Enterprises (ICEC) relies on a specific methodology. Language dominance is determined not by screen time, but by the number of words in the filmed script.
According to the official declaration submitted by the producers-and verified by the ICEC-the linguistic breakdown of the script is as follows:
- Catalan: 34.95%
- Spanish: 28.45%
- English: 19.41%
- Dutch: 15.23%
- Arabic: 1.94%
- Because Catalan holds the highest percentage-even if barely exceeding one-third of the total script-it determines the film’s original version. This statistical quirk is largely attributed to the character played by David Verdaguer. While the film is generally contemplative with significant silences, Verdaguer’s character is notably verbose during his brief 11 minutes of screen presence. Consequently, this skews the word count in favour of Catalan.
- The ICEC has confirmed that while producer declarations are usually accepted at face value, a recount was conducted for Molt lluny due to the balanced nature of the percentages. The data was found to be exact.
- The film’s classification highlights a tension between administrative criteria and the viewing experience. The use of language in the film is praised for its naturalism. It never appears forced simply to meet a quota. Yet, the fact that a movie with such limited Catalan dialogue can compete for awards specifically reserved for Catalan-language films forces a re-evaluation of what labels mean in a modern, diglossic society.
- Apply to join our community of Entrepreneurs, Senior Executives and Founders at Bizcelona .
- Link to original article
