QUARTZ 7:11

Short Talk with Daniel Ortiz Entrambasaguas (director)

Spain / 2023 / 25’51’

BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM Category

21st IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival 2024

Synopsis: Suffering child abuse marks you- But what about it after all?
 The path after breaking the silence and destroying the stigma. Treatment and care about wounds. Learning to live again when someone stole away the most precious thing you had, innocence.

Biography: Daniel Ortiz Entrambasaguas makes different courses in cinematography, script, production and filmmaker with Romn Gubern, Juan Antonio Bardem and Pilar Mir at the end of the 90s. Graduated from the New York Film Academy 2004. Solid career as Producer of successful music videos and TVC. He has produced advertising campaigns for Philips, Cinzano, Danone, Nextel, P&G or Astro TV and Maxis with Leo Mesi. He also produced music videos with big success in Spain and Latin America with artists such as David Bisbal, Hombres G, Any y Lucas, Brito or Moustafa Amar for the arabian market. He has produced the film "Not with you, critter", premiered at the Malaga Festival in 2018 and 5 short films awarded in several film festivals. Daniel just finished his second feature film as producer and started his first fiction movie as director and also a feature documentary in order to finish 7:11 Quartz.

Daniel Ortiz Entrambasaguas, director

In The Palace: Tell us, which was more heartbreaking: to make the movie or to watch it?
 
Daniel Ortiz Entrambasaguas (director): It was hard to film, but it is also necessary to show it and give it a chance to display those kinds of human behaviors. For me it was a big surprise, when I got to know the annual reports from the police department in Spain about the child abuse, while the media spreads the news about those cases, that often the abusers are people that victim knows such as teachers or trainers. This is only 20% of all the cases of child abuse. The other 80% happens within the family. So, when I got to know those shocking numbers, I said: “Wow, nobody knows about this”. I think that this is the social cancer of our society and that is the reason why I created this film and this kind of story. The reports we have in Spain are similar to the annual reports from the United Nations and the same as other countries from the “first” world: Germany, France, Italy, USA, United Kingdom, etc. We often put our references on countries from regions such as Latin America, Africa or Asia and we forget about us. 

 
 
In The Palace: How did you come up with the name of the film?
 
Daniel Ortiz Entrambasaguas: I chose the name “Quartz” like the mineral, which is the most widespread mineral in the world. For example, here in Pernik, Argentina, or Malaga, where I am from you can not so easily find gold or silver, but you can find quartz everywhere. It is a mineral that is mixed between other stones and we can't see it. So this is the metaphoric meaning of the title and all these cases that are inside of us.

 
 
In The Palace: How did you find and connect with the people, who faced child abuse?
 
Daniel Ortiz Entrambasaguas: It was very difficult, because we started this story with another plot and theme, before we discovered these reports. A friend of mine, who is a psychologist, brought me to associations and institutions and for the short film we chose 3 people. But we have many more and we are preparing them for our next documentary film. I was so impressed by the people, when I got to know them, because before meeting them, I was already working for six months on the film and my brain could not imagine the real stories of the people. I got nightmares when I heard some of the cases. I can't completely relate or translate their stories, but I tried to do my best in order to spread and show that reality, which is so hard, but it is also necessary to show.

Author's take (Petar Penev):

Quartz 7:11 is a gentle yet heartfelt documentary that blends the aesthetic with the vulgar, beauty with trauma, offering a symbolic exploration of the lives of those who have experienced childhood sexual abuse. Through the personal stories of victims, both male and female, of various ages, the film emphasizes that while our scars shape us, they do not define us.

The documentary utilizes a range of visual and storytelling styles, creating a fragmented structure that ties together past and present, documentary and reenactment, raw and aesthetic. The result is a series of striking images that almost seem to defy the ugly reality of the past. Growth becomes the key theme, a light that pushes through darkness, highlighting the strength it takes to move forward.

Sensitive and intimate, the film presents these taboo stories with immense care and love, aiming to raise awareness about the widespread nature of abuse. It offers a powerful message to survivors, reminding them that they are not alone and that healing and life after trauma are not only possible, but within reach.