Christmas specials also reach the world of podcasts. And they do it with the fantastic irony of Biotopia, the fake newsletter Manuel Bartual created about a dystopian world. A similar bet in the style of “The War of the Worlds” proposes FOOM, a one-chapter story that recreates the live coverage of an unprecedented event for humanity that has long been feared. The fiction “The Tiger” is very realistic and oriented towards everyday life, despite the strangeness of the anecdote that triggers the plot. And the Thessaloniki Film Festival innovates with a selection of podcasts in its program, of which we recommend one that falls between sociology and music.
'The Tiger'
Class tensions characterize this fiction, which is characterized by the naturalness of its dialogues. José Luis, a swineherd from Fregenal de la Sierra, a small town in the province of Badajoz, works from morning to evening for a meager salary on the estate of some marquises with dissolute lives. One day the employee comes home in the middle of the night covered in blood and claims he saw a tiger. The excuse, strange as it may seem, is used to justify the disappearance of several pigs. Is it an invention to hide a theft? This is how El Tigre begins, a sound thriller from Podium Podcast in collaboration with Estela Films and narrated by Aitana Sánchez-Gijón. The city of Extremadura, where the film is set, was involved in the production of the five chapters. It was shot in real locations indoors and outdoors.
'FOOM'
The Chilean platform Emisor Podcasting explores the boundaries of the medium with this storytelling exercise by Julio Rojas, the scriptwriter of one of the most listened to podcasts in the world in 2023 on Spotify, Case 63. Although the original broadcast of FOOM took place on November 24 2023, this story that that replicates real-time reporting can be restored if necessary. The plot of this unique 44-minute episode begins when several platforms decide to start broadcasting live due to strange events in the world. It is the day when artificial intelligence takes control of humanity. With Emisor, the global company Sonoro, Anfibia from Argentina, La No Ficción from Colombia and Elextraordinary from Spain work together in a large Ibero-American coalition. Each platform chose its own host to star in the story.
“Biotopia” Christmas special
Manuel Bartual created Biotopia as a fake newsletter from a fictional world. With great irony it tells of everyday life in this high-tech research and development center. Although the science fiction series “Biotopia” is still on hiatus, A Christmas Carol will premiere in the broadest sense of the word on December 19th after its second season. He'll be playing with the impossible again, and this time he has Brays Efe in the cast.
In English: “Songlines with Jimmy Trash”
The Thessaloniki Film Festival is a pioneer in opening its programming to podcasts. In its most recent edition it featured Songlines with Jimmy Trash. This project, which focuses on the sociological reach of music, was created by a legend of the night underground from the night underground capital of the world: Berlin. Jimmy Trash was a DJ at the Monarch Club, a cult venue in the Kreuzberg district. This podcast looks back at the highlights of history where music, politics and culture are inextricably linked. In his first part, he talks to Indonesian musicians about Genjer-Genjer, which he says is one of the most controversial songs in history. It is a popular song from the Asian country that was eventually used as war propaganda. The second episode is the beginning of a series of episodes dedicated to the traumatic origins of rebbetic music. Compared to tango, fado or blues, its themes have given visibility to the declassed since the mid-19th century due to their marginal origins. Thessaloniki has been one of the popular places ever since.
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