Synopsis

Ramón Belda is a shy, imaginative teenager from Madrid whose nightly role-playing games blur with his everyday life. In his fantasy world, he is the warrior Beldar, charged with protecting a powerful jewel alongside the warrior princess Sonja. As the boundaries between imagination and reality collapse, Ramón must confront dangers that seem to have escaped from his adventures and discover the courage hidden within him.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film combines contemporary Madrid with a sword-and-sorcery setting, using role-playing games as the link between the two worlds.

• Its structure draws on Don Quixote, particularly the idea of an ordinary person whose imagination transforms everyday experiences into grand adventures.

• The production had a reported budget of 500 million Spanish pesetas, an ambitious sum for a Spanish fantasy film of its period.

• Filming lasted 11 weeks and included digital and practical effects that were considered relatively unusual in Spanish cinema at the time.

• The soundtrack includes music by the Spanish group Deviot, reflecting the film's youth-oriented setting and early-2000s atmosphere.

• The film was produced in 1999 and released theatrically in Spain in January 2000. Spain's national film database lists a runtime of 115 minutes.

• It received international genre recognition, including awards at the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival, the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, and Fantasporto in Portugal.

• The film earned nominations at the 15th Goya Awards for Best New Director and Best Production Supervision.

• Spanish box-office records list 287,340 admissions and gross revenue of more than 1.1 million euros.