Berta Prieto (‘Self-Defense’): “We were surprised by how moralistic the criticisms of Twitter are”

‘Self-defense’ is the revelation series of 2022. This new commitment to the original Filmin productions after the success of ‘Doctor Portuondo’ by Carlo Padial, has led to a huge upheaval on social networks after the launch of the trailer of the series created by Berta Prieto, Belén Barenys and Miguel Ángel Blanca and, of course, two nominations at the Feroz Awards in the categories of Best Comedy Series and Best Screenplay. Self-defined as a mix -directed by Lars von Trier- between the series ‘Girls’ and the film ‘Kids’, ‘Self-Defense’ recounts, in a mockumentary code, the experiences of two young Barcelonans belonging to generation Z who, although without wanting to, they oppose all the pressing traumas: two economic crises, job instability, an uncertain future and a global pandemic, to name a few. From eCartelera we had the opportunity to talk to the three about the controversy that arose on Twitter, their nominations and the gestation process of the series.

eCartelera: Congratulations on these two Feroz Award nominations for Best Comedy Series and Best Screenplay. How did you experience this beautiful news in the team?

Bertha Prieto: It was incredible, a great joy to be nominated for Fierce. And making ‘Self Defense’ was also a joy (laughs).

Miguel Angel Blanca: It was surprising, especially taking into account the other nominated series, which are very large productions, wildly, with a screenplay work, let’s say, usual, which was very different from our way of working.

BP extension: It makes me so funny that something we’ve written in our pajamas, lounging in our house, or drunk in a boogaloo is nominated for Fierce, you know?

MAB file extension: It is a triumph for us and for ‘Autodefensa’ but also It’s a triumph for people who want to do things differently and think it’s not possible. At least that’s the reading I do.

eC: And a few days before the news of the nominations, Filmin released a trailer that was a real bomb on social media, especially on Twitter…

Belen Barenys: We never expected it to cause such a stir. It’s something we never imagined. And when there was all this controversy on Twitter, we felt a little bit divided. In the end, it’s a shame, because it’s from a trailer. If people were criticizing watching the series it would be something else, but looking at the trailer… it seems a bit cheesy to me. Many of the criticisms that have been thrown at us we can assume, for example that we are two elegant girls from Barcelona who do not represent young people. But that’s what we say in interviews: we don’t want to represent any generation, and we understand that there are people who don’t feel identified. and I I find it very cool that people are into studying and haven’t seen a line of cocaine in their lifetime, it seems perfect to me. But you don’t have to consume fictions just to see yourself reflected in them, right?

BP extension: At first we laughed and shared things through our WhatsApp group. Then there was a day when Belén and I were terrible, super sad. The next day they nominated us at Feroz and we said ‘Well, we’re already sweating’. What surprises me about criticism on Twitter and why humanity seems horrible to me, apart from the hatred that social networks cause, which we all know, is how moralistic they are, from the stick ‘polyaddicts, snobs, seeing the trailer caught an STD ‘. Which I think ‘Dude, you really have a very high standard of morality’. This is what Belén says, I’m very happy that people don’t take drugs, that they have a lot of class consciousness, that they are careful not to catch sexually transmitted diseases. I’m happy because this means the world is going well, we’re not saying what we’re doing is the right thing. But the grace of making fiction is also that.

EC: The screenplay is full of dialogues that are reflections aloud. I guess it wasn’t easy to make one’s sensations, experiences and emotions tangible on paper, which are still something abstract.

BP extension: It was a super natural process. Nor did we claim to capture all of our thoughts or make a complete portrait of all that we are. There were themes that Belén and I had in common and that somehow Miguel Ángel also liked. We became friends and started talking. We find the best way to approach each chapter, so each one has a different tone and structure. We used the tools we thought were best to explain each topic. This process has talked a lot and I think it is one of the virtues of the series. I find it very nice to have been able to work like this, from the conversation. What one said was opposed by the other and super interesting debates were created. And aside from how much that can enrich the final script, we’ve also learned a lot as people.

MAB file extension: The funny thing is that we became friends, and from there that forge was born where we could tell each other a series of things that, after a month, we were already telling each other privately. We managed to bring them to the plot, that was kind of my role, to structure all those reflections that Berta and Belén had. At the beginning there were some small rules that we gradually broke. The script was done without thinking that we were making a series. We said, “How good we were when we were with the script, now we have to shoot it.” It has been a process of great novelty at every stage, but unpretentious in nothing, and I believe that therein lies the truth. In doing it without thinking you’re doing a series.

EC: Touching on so many topics, and some delicate ones such as emotional exposure on social networks, were you afraid of exaggerating or trivializing them?

BB: What we tried in the scriptwriting sessions was to really push what we wanted to say about each topic. We weren’t afraid of being too beastly, trivial or incorrect, or go too far on what is expected of these issues, but we wanted to have clear, demarcated lines within which we wanted to move. We weren’t afraid of making a mistake or making a mistake, in fact we looked for it quite a bit. We have fled the complacent and the obvious.

BP extension: We were afraid to make a series with a mediocre discourse on feminism. The easy thing would be, for example, that in the scene where I record a story for Belén while she is having an anxiety attack, say ‘It’s great that we make the mental health of some snobs visible’. I would be very scared if my speech was that, that “basic”. And not for provocation. There is something that the three of us share a lot, a common denominator, that we want to escape from what is expected or correct, from what everyone already understands at first glance. The scriptwriting sessions were very interesting.

MAB file extension: We knew what we didn’t want to do, the series and films we didn’t like, which talked about a certain topic trying to make a politically correct speech. The issues covered in “Self-Defense” have been addressed for the past three years, but as one version of what is correct to guide feminism. We were looking for that discomfort. There were a lot of contradictions there, about the cancellation. When we went one direction, another said the opposite. We found it much more complex than the typical ‘you’re bad and you’re good’. The script work, although there was a lot of improvisation, was very accurate. We didn’t go out to record anything without being clear about our speech, even if our speech was a contradiction.

BP extension: We wanted that, if we frivolized, we would agree.

MAB file extension: And that this frivolity would create new spaces for debate. Not frivolous to provoke anyone.

eC: Despite the waste of energy, friendship and parties, ‘Self-Defense’ has a nihilistic component about the nonsense of the future and about a generation Z that has lived only in crisis. Do you have an optimistic or a pessimistic streak left?

pp: I think both. That two girls and a man with an orchard were able to make a series for Filmin in total freedom seems to me an act that exudes optimism for cinema, creation and art. The discourse of the series, in reality, is optimistic. There is a lot of talk about friendship.

MAB file extension: What I am most proud of is the series so political that we have no political pretensions. Two girls who live their daily lives are touched, facing very important situations and issues. While we don’t want to be a generational series, we do have two characters who constantly bathe in everything. Giving someone a handjob is already a political issue, and it was born out of a sitcom.

EC: You’ve already commented that Filmin gave you absolute freedom, but were there any red lines you didn’t want to cross?

BP extension: Give a live blowjob, we said no.

MAB file extension: We talked about how comfortable they were with sex scenes. Above all, we had the red lines of what we didn’t want to be and the clichés we couldn’t fall into. But there are all problems. The abuse of power in the audiovisual sector, for example. I thought that there Filmin would have said no, because it’s a topic that everyone knows and nobody talks about.

The first five chapters of ‘Self Defense’ They are already available on Filmin. The remaining five will hit the platform on December 6.