Plot
Marta, a teenager from Barcelona, is forced to
spend her Christmas holidays in Senegal with her divorced father, Manel, and
her younger brother Bruno. She’d enjoy her stay if only they’d stop cajoling
her into joining them on a frantic series of safaris and local folklore acts
along with the pensioners staying at the resort.
Marta meets Khouma, a Senegalese guy a bit
older than her who works at the hotel making videos for the tourists during their
sightseeing tours. She also befriends the hotel maid Aissatou, who invites her
to cross the door marked “Staff Only”, introducing her to the invisible world
of the hotel staff.
Staff Only marks Neus Ballus’ first foray into narrative feature film, with a cast made up almost entirely of non-professional actors that lend an authenticity to Marta’s journey. The protagonist will discover that friendship and love are slightly more complex in a world defined by social inequality.
You can acces the director’s presentation of the film here.
Full Cast and Crew
Awards
Neus Ballús
Born
in Mollet del Vallès (Barcelona) in 1980, she studied filmmaking and Creative
Documentary at Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona). Her first feature-length
film, La plaga (2013), premiered at the 63rd Berlinale Forum, was nominated for
the European Film Awards (“European Discovery”), the LUX Prize Awards, the Goya
Prizes, and has received more than 20 international prizes, including 4 Premis
Gaudí and the prestigious and historical 57th Premi Sant Jordi to the Best
Spanish First Film.
Strongly
interested in cinema in the boundaries of documentary and fiction, she has
specialized in scriptwriting, editing and working with nonprofessional actors. “Staff
Only” is her first fiction film.