“Stockholm” tells of the confusing and intense flirtation between two young people on the night of a party in Madrid, a film that was originally conceived as a short, dramatic work that is a mixture of several genres – as explained by director Rodrigo Sorogoyen in an interview with Efe – and which has captivated the U.S. public.

“The reception in the United States has been very good, but I get the feeling that viewers on this side of the Atlantic always want to see positive, optimistic films, in contrast to the European public, who are more accustomed to dark films,” he said.

Sorogoyen wrote the screenplay with Isabel Peña and assembled a group of “friends from film school” to work on the project, obtaining financing via “crowdfunding,” whereby they collected 70,000 euros (about $88,000).

The filming of the 90-minute work, using Sorogoyen’s house as the main set, was completed in just 12 days.

Starring Aura Garrido and Pereira, the director told Efe that “the nice thing ... in low-budget films is that things like this happen: (Garrido) had her hair colored red because during the filming she was working on a series and could not change it.”

“So we tried to incorporate that into our work – for example, there are several scenes in which practically just the colors white, black and red appear – and to take advantage of the leading actress’s hair,” Sorogoyen said.