Spanish filmmaker Eduardo Casanova has never shied away from provocation. From his striking debut Skins (Pieles) to the unsettling La Piedad, his films pulse with pastel colors, grotesque beauty, and characters who embody rebellion against rigid social norms. With his latest project, Silencio, Casanova takes his singular vision to new ground, blending vampire horror and queer cinema into a tragicomic meditation on stigma, love, and survival.
Told across centuries, Silencio begins during the Black Death, when vampire sisters struggle with dwindling supplies of “clean blood.” Their story echoes forward to the AIDS crisis in Spain, where descendants confront the same fear, rejection, and silence. For Casanova, silence itself is the deadliest force: silence around illness, sexuality, and identity.
In our conversation, he described how important it was to create his own world: “I hate the real world. I need to create my own world,” he told me, pointing to his obsession with pastel vampires, lush art direction, and anachronistic beauty. For Casanova, the design of a film is “like another character.”
Blood, both literal and metaphorical, lies at the heart of Silencio. Just as vampires live hidden in darkness, people living with HIV/AIDS have been forced into silence by stigma. Casanova wanted to use horror not just to scare, but to liberate: “I love horror movies, but I always put a social conflict inside them. For me, it’s so important to break the silence for people with HIV.”
The series also reflects an evolution in his career. Unlike his earlier works, Silencio was not commissioned. That gave him the freedom, he explained, to shape the project entirely on his own terms while still reaching for a broader audience. “It’s very me, with my colors, my world, but it talks to more people. And with comedy, all this drama is easier to understand.”
That mix of grotesque, humor, and empathy is what makes Casanova’s films unforgettable. He admits he does not calculate the balance consciously: “I don’t know how I do it. I just try to be honest with me and with my characters.”
One of his proudest contributions with Silencio is the creation of new iconic female vampire figures. “Everyone knows Dracula. But Dracula is a man. I’m in love with creating iconic women monsters. It’s important to give women that visibility, to create new icons.”
Despite the heavy themes, Casanova insists his films are meant to be enjoyed. What he hopes audiences take away, above all, is courage: “Enjoy. Break your own silence. And love without fear.”
Speaking with Eduardo Casanova was more than just an interview. We may be two completely different people, but by the end of the conversation, we ended in love. His passion, his honesty, and his unwavering vision mark him as a true original. And to Eduardo and his PR team, kudos. Technical issues tried to get in the way, but we powered through. Like Silencio itself, the silence did not win.
Jessie Hobson