Production company Nakamura Films and Raw Pictures have acquired the rights bring Paco Roca’s latest literary work to the cinema‘The Abyss of Oblivion’, following the success achieved with the previous film adaptation, ‘The House’.

The Abyss of Oblivion by Paco Roca

Written by Paco Roca Yes Rodrigo Terrassa Yes modified by Astiberri‘The abyss of oblivion“became a publishing phenomenon in 2024. Published in December 2023,”The abyss of oblivion It was the best-selling non-fiction book in Spain for more than 20 weeks, spending almost 50 weeks in the top 20 and selling more than 60,000 copies. The rights to the novel have been sold to the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Turkey and Brazil.

What The Abyss of Oblivion is about

In the dark chapter of the Spanish post-war period, The story of José Celda and his daughter Pepica is intertwined with an act of human resistance against oblivion. On 14 September 1940, José was shot by the Franco regime in Paterna, Valencia, and was buried in a mass grave. Decades later, his daughter Pepica, now in her 80s, has completed a painful but hopeful process to recover her father’s remains.

The silent protagonist of this story is Leoncio Badíaa republican undertaker who risked his life by secretly documenting the remains of those shot, leaving messages among the corpses in the hope that one day someone could save the memory of these men.

Through the work “The Abyss of Oblivion” by Paco Roca, created together with Rodrigo Terrasa, this moving personal story is reconstructed which represents the suffering of thousands of Spaniards who were victims of repression after the Civil War. AND a heartbreaking testimony of how a country has tried to erase its own memorybut it could not destroy the dignity of those who resisted.

In our podcast LCDE 226 we already recommend this magnificent comic in which Paco Roca returns to his favorite topic: the fear of ceasing to remember our past (personal or collective) as a symbol of the loss of one’s personality.

A team of guarantee

The film project will reunite the same team that brought ‘The House’ to life, film which premiered on May 1st and has already attracted more than 100,000 viewers. He will lead the project Alex Montoya as director and screenwriter, accompanied by producers Jordi Llorca, Sofía López and Araceli Isaac.

Montoya expressed his enthusiasm and respect for the new challenge: “Bringing ‘The Abyss of Oblivion’ to the screen is a great challenge, both due to the scale of the project and the responsibility and sensitivity that its treatment requires. It is never easy to convey the text surrounding Paco’s stories; Few like him reflect on the passage of time and the inevitability of oblivion. Translating all this into film will require a lot of work and a good deal of ingenuity, but it will undoubtedly be an exciting journey.“.

The author’s vision

For Paco Roca, The film adaptation represents an opportunity to broaden the reach of your message. “Rodrigo and I are very excited for this comic to become a movie and we are even more so thanks to Nakamura and Raw, and Álex who did a great job with ‘The House’. They managed to capture the theme and tone of the comic in the film and, moreover, Álex did it with great sensitivity and using the language of cinema to convey that story, so we are very confident that this film will not just be a good adaptation of the comic but that it is a good film which serves, I believe, like the comic, to reach the general public and which makes us reflect on the issue of mass graves and that we must try to guarantee that all these families recover the remains of their families which, as I said first, it is a human right to which no one could oppose.”

Montoya managed to do it the best possible adaptation of this delicate comicso much so that he achieved the same result as Roca in his graphic work: it is impossible not to look at yourself in the mirror or get emotional.

A successful precedent

The previous collaboration between Roca and the film team has already proven to be a success. ‘The House’ not only achieved considerable success with the public, but It was also recognized at the Malaga Film Festival with six major awards, including Best Screenplay, Best Music and Audience Award. You have at your disposal the interview we were able to do to Paco Roca and Álex Montoya.

Career of an established author

Paco Roca, recently awarded the Gold Medal of Merit of Fine Arts, has extensive experience in film adaptations. His works “Wrinkles” and “Memories of a Man in Pajamas” have already been turned into films with notable success, obtaining important awards such as the Goya for best animated film.

Next steps

While specific production details have yet to be revealed, the team has already started working on the adaptation. The producers underlined that the idea was born during the premiere of ‘The House’ at the Malaga Film Festival, where they perceived the cinematic potential of Roca’s latest work.

The wait was worth it. With a consolidated team, a renowned author and a story that promises depth and sensitivity, ‘The Abyss of Oblivion’ promises to be one of the most interesting film adaptations of next year.

Time will tell if this new collaboration will confirm the success of ‘The House’ and continues to expand Paco Roca’s narrative universe beyond the pages of books.