The Odd-Job Men

Sis Dies Corrents

62nd TIFF: Greek Premiere

The story of a week in the life of Moha, Valero and Pep – who are working in a small plumbing and electricity company in the outskirts of Barcelona: they are the guys who enter your home and fix what’s broken. Moha, the youngest, is on a one-week trial period with the company. He is shy but does surprisingly well with customers. Moha is set to replace Pep, who is about to retire. However, Valero is not at all comfortable with Pep retiring. He doubts Moha has what it takes, or that customers will accept a Moroccan worker. Maybe six days are not enough to make somebody change, to make him overcome his prejudices or make a new friend. But it’s possibly enough to discover that we have to live together: one small step for a plumber, but a giant leap for mankind. A documentary film structured like fiction, which (below this surface of a light-hearted comedy) engages with one of the more pressing challenges of our time: how to understand one another.

Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.


Direction: Neus Ballús
Script: Neus Ballús, Margarita Melgar
Cinematography: Anna Molins
Editing: Neus Ballús, Ariadna Ribas
Sound: Amanda Villavieja, Elena Coderch, Albert Manera
Music: René-Marc Bini
Actors: Mohamed Mellali, Valero Escolar, Pep Sarrà, Paqui Becerra
Production: Distinto Films
Producers: Miriam Porté
Co-production: El Kinògraf
Costumes: Alba Costa
Sets: Marta Colell
Format: DCP
Color: Color
Production Country: Spain
Production Year: 2021
Duration: 85'
Contact: Beta Cinema

Neus Ballús

Neus Ballús is a film director and scriptwriter. Her first film The Plague (2013) premiered at Berlinale Forum and was nominated for the European Film Awards, LUX Prize and Goya Awards, in addition to receiving over twenty international awards. Her second feature, Staff Only (2019), starring Sergi López, premiered in Berlinale Panorama, was screened at more than thirty festivals and was released in over 100 theatres throughout Spain and France. Ballús’s work has grown out of the fertile soils of genre hybrids, dealing with some of the most relevant contemporary issues, such as racism, post-Colonialism and social inequalities. She has been considered by The Hollywood Reporter and Variety to be among the leading filmmakers of Catalonia’s New Wave.

Filmography

2009 Immersion (short)
2013 The Plague
2019 Staff Only
2021 The Odd-Job Men