Carlota Pereda blends horror and empathy in ‘Piggy’

Spanish director Carlota Pereda sat down with The Panther to discuss the production of her debut feature-length film, ‘Piggy’ set in a stifling summer of rural Spain. Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing

In the community of Extremadura, Spain, sweltering summers bring heat waves of over 120 degrees. Surrounded by mountains, forest and lakes, the area is only accessible by car. As one of the poorest regions in Spain, residents still drive vehicles nearly 30 to 40 years old. As a relic stuck in time, this is where director Carlota Pereda spent her summers as a child, and now, it serves as the location to her new film “Piggy.”

Although the scorching weather of Extremadura caused production to halt, Pereda cites the emotional connection to her characters as the most difficult challenge to overcome in her directorial debut. She had developed such an affinity for her protagonist Sara (played by Laura Galán) that watching her enduring the trials and tribulations of a horror movie caused her to shed real tears. 

“While I was filming, a challenge was how emotional it was because both Laura (Galán) and I felt like this little Sara — the main character — was our child,” Pereda told The Panther. “When I was shooting those things, even though I had written them, I really felt for her. I really empathize with her and I felt really sad when something bad happened to her.”

On Sept. 27, Pereda sat down with The Panther to talk about the struggles of becoming a filmmaker in Spain, the roots of her love of filmmaking and her personal connections to “Piggy” and her directorial debut, which garnered buzz at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and will be released to theaters this month.  

The main character Sara, an overweight teen, is harassed regularly by a local clique of girls, both physically and on social media. On top of that, she feels like an outsider in her own home. When the clique of bullies is kidnapped by a stranger, Sara’s morals are tested. She fights between whether to come clean to the authorities about what she saw or give into her curiosity about this intriguing, new stranger. 

As a teenager that identified as part of the LGBTQIA+ community, Pereda grew up hiding her feelings in a state of what she called “pure survival,” similar to Sara. She found that the horror genre was the best medium to convey such strong emotions and evoke empathy from the audience.

"To feel horror you have to feel empathy for the leading actress or the leading characters," Pereda said. "I wanted people to really live through Sara’s shoes or to experience what she was experiencing, so I thought the genre was the best medium … I think horror lets me be very free thematically and also formally.”

Before developing the feature, Pereda shot the story as a short film of the same title in Spanish, “Cerdita.” It was met with astounding success in 2018, being accepted into over 300 film festivals and winning over 100 prizes. 

”People write to me to tell me how much this short means to them,” Pereda said. “So when we made the movie, there was some responsibility to the people who have loved the short.”

Throughout her career Pereda has served as a writer, script supervisor and director in television with credits in shows such as “Periodistas,” “Acacias 38” and “Águila Roja.” Although Pereda loved working in television, she said she was excited to explore the feature film format. 

“I started doing television because I had to make a living,” Pereda said. “I really love working on (television) projects and I'm really proud of them, but I wanted to follow my own voice and to explore that further. That could be either in the feature medium or in the TV series format. Movies are my first love so I'm going to follow that, first and foremost.”

When transitioning to directing feature-length films, Pereda looked to develop her other short film “The Blondes (Las Rubias),” about two stunning, blonde criminals named Marta and Pepa who are stopped by nothing except another blonde. However, Pereda chose to shift her attention to “Piggy” instead.

“When I was shooting the short last year (for “Piggy”), I realized the conflict was too good to let go,” Pereda said. “I could make a film about a moral issue and that was too exciting. Of course, by then I had fallen in love with Sara, the leading character, and (actress) Laura Galán was brilliant and I knew she could do it. I just couldn’t let it pass.”

“Piggy” will be available on VOD beginning Oct. 14. Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing

Pereda credits her love of the horror genre to her cousins. Being the youngest in the group, she followed what they did, which happened to be watching horror films. She credits her love of film to her father whom she bonded with by going to the movies as a child. However, the road for aspiring filmmakers in Spain was not as cleanly paved as other countries.

“In Spain, it is not that easy to make a living in cinema, especially when I started,” Pereda said. “Now there are some very vibrant communities and it's getting easier, but at that moment, it was really hard so I never thought I was going to make it until I got into film school. Suddenly I got a job in TV even though I didn't have any connections.”

On top of the limited opportunities to make a living in cinema in Spain, Pereda also found it challenging to make her mark as a woman in this field. Now Pereda said she is adamant about bringing on female contributors behind the camera on all her projects. From the casting director to the director of photography, many of the senior positions in “Piggy” were occupied by women. 

“It is important because it’s not that easy and in Spain (women working in film) was something that didn’t happen at all,” Pereda said. “All my producers are women and most of my crew was as well because I also wanted to create an environment where (Galán) will feel safe and not feel judged. Of course, all of the men in the group were absolutely amazing and I'm not saying men can't do that, but I wanted the sisters behind her.”

Pereda said there was never a glimpse of doubt when she chose to pursue “Piggy.” She said she is open to everything that can be of inspiration and follows through with the craziest ideas, sticking to her gut. Because of this commitment, “Piggy” was recognized as a “horror favorite” at Sundance and she couldn’t be happier about the response. 

“It's been crazy," Pereda said. "A lot of meetings — producers and people call in every single day. Also the audience response (has been crazy) from the people who saw it at Sundance and the people who've seen the film in festivals around the world. It's great because now the movie is not mine. It’s theirs. It’s found a good home.”

Pereda will turn her attention to her next project “The Blondes,” which will begin production Oct. 24. “Piggy” will play at the Alamo Drafthouse in Los Angeles Oct. 4. The film will also be available on VOD beginning Oct. 14.