The boundless ambition of a young politician.
30-year-old Simón Soria is a professor of politics who is a very talented liberal intellectual tired of his career and cornered by his unpopular ideas within the faculty. Despite having gained some recognition and having a huge ego, Soria lives distressed because his success never seems enough for him. His life changes when he meets Rania al-Jatib, a feminist Palestinian filmmaker who lives in Paris.
The relationship between Rania and Simon gives way to an increasingly air bridge between the cities where the protagonists reside, Paris and Madrid. Their lives change even more so when Simón gets a new job, thanks to Rania, as the ideologist of the Democratic Party. This is a conservative formation seeking a ¨glow up¨ a few months before the general elections, and finds the professor to be the perfect candidate.
The story is told in the form of a report and brings us closer to an electoral campaign full of scandals, betrayals between party mates, and even a sextape …
With great humor and credibility, the story takes you through an electoral campaign with ambition, vanity and desire. This clever juxtaposition between fiction and non-fiction shows a trajectory that could very well be on the press today, with undeniable actuality. The candidate will survive, after all, the rise and the falls are at the heart of human comedies.
RELEVANT DATA: The Candidate (Candidato) is very well received by critics, they define it as: one of the best novels of its generation.¨ A sociopolitical satire that explores the ¨behind the scenes¨ of an electoral campaign and the transformation of politicians into media stars, similar to reality show contestants, who are eager for success and prominence.
Similar to El alba, la tarde o la noche, by Yasmina Reza or Sumisión, by Michel Houellebecq, The Candidate (Candidato) reflects on the construction of the young charismatic politicians that exists today (Macron in France, Truedau in Canada, Rivera in Spain), all apparently brilliant, serious, talented and respectable people. However, you find dubious ideology when you dive deeper than their extremely thought-out social image that’s on the surface.
Antonio J, Rodríguez is a well-known journalist, and is one of the most interesting writers in Spain today.
What the critics have said:
“A bitter portrait of characters who have seen desires and aspirations cut short, frustrated and trapped, in a false perfect life.” Ernesto Ayala-Dip, Babelia (El País).
“One of the most talented voices in new Spanish narratives.” Anna María Iglesia, El Confidencial.
AUDIOVISUAL POTENTIAL: In development for a Film.
LANGUAGES AVAILABLE: Spanish.
