Alex de la Iglesia on His Upcoming Chilean Shoot ‘The Misunderstanding’: ‘Reality Has Become My Parallel World’

Spanish director Alex de la Iglesia is set to film his first project in Chile, the absurdist comedy *The Misunderstanding*, after a connection made at the Santiago Film Festival helped bring the project together. He says the story reflects today’s sense of chaos and political incompetence, using comic confusion to explore the stakes of war.

The film centres on two fictional countries, Lithovenia and Stalovakia, whose tensions escalate after a diplomatic compliment is mistaken for an insult. Benjamín Vicuña plays a hapless foreign affairs minister; filming is planned over four weeks in Santiago mansions, including the former US embassy, and at locations outside the city for battlefield scenes. De la Iglesia’s Pokeepsie Films is producing with Chile’s Rio Estudios.