It’s a story many members of our generation (the so-called millennials) will find all too familiar: A young couple madly in love, an opportunity overseas, a technologically mediated long-distance relationship, frustration, temptation, and oftentimes an inevitable breakup. It’s not easy, but in a globalized world where professional opportunities can take you to to the four corners of the world, long-distance relationships are increasingly difficult to avoid. But then again, there’s Skype, Facetime, Whatsapp to make those distances feel shorter, or remind us of how far away we really are.
It should be of no surprise then that Catalán director Carlos Marques-Marcet left his native Barcelona to study film at UCLA before coming up with the idea for his feature debut 10,000 KM, which world premiered at SXSW and just screened at the San Sebastian Film Festival last week. The story follows a year in the life of Alexandra and Sergio — two best friends and lovers whose relationship is put to the test when Alexandra is offered an artist’s residency in Los Angeles.
Using the familiar visual language of video chat and Google maps, Marques-Marcet brings us a story about the complexities of love in the 21st century. Sure, the trailer might seem a little sappy, what with the ukulele-driven soundtrack, plenty of tears, and a scene in which both Alexandra and Sergio tenderly dance with their computers, but sometimes when it comes to movies, sappy is just what the doctor ordered.