Belen Atienza, Sergio Sanchez & Juan Antonio Bayona Take on THE IMPOSSIBLE

Respect was a word that came up often as I was talking with the filmmakers who brought THE IMPOSSIBLE to the screen on October 31 2012. Based on the true story of one family’s harrowing experience trying to survive in the aftermath of the Christmas Day tsunami in Thailand, the film was shot on location where it actually happened. Many of the extras were people who had personally experienced the disaster, and co-producer Belen Atienza, screenwriter Sergio Sanchez, and director Juan Antonio Bayona were determined to do justice to them as well as to the family portrayed by Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, and Tom Holland. We also covered why this particular story was so compelling for them, why CGI wouldn’t do when it came to recreating the floodwaters, and the unexpected correspondences between this film and their previous one, the supernatural thriller, THE ORPHANAGE.

THE IMPOSSIBLE is a story of courage, desperation, and the power of mother nature. Based on a true story, it follows one family’s struggle against crushing odds in the wake of the Christmas Day tsunami in Thailand. Told with harrowing details, and a keen understanding of the sheer enormity of the disaster and its aftermath, it is also a deeply human film, as a mother and son change places, and a father struggles to do the right thing. The film stars Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Geraldine Chaplin and Tom Holland. The film was co-produced by Atienza, and was directed by Bayona from a script by Sanchez. The three previously collaborated on the sublimely creepy film, THE ORPHANAGE. Atienza speaks first, and then Bayona.