La maniobra de Heimlich

Writer Àlex Pareja (Jacob Torres)'s book, The Heimlich Maneuver, describes the events around his girlfriend's death by choking. It's a success, as it breaks all the conventions to reflect auto-fiction in a non-linear way. Ten years later, Pareja is filming a movie adaptation that, he insists, must also reflect reality, transcending traditionalism of scripts. Due to this, a camera and small team will follow Àlex and film anything in his life; Àlex insists he must be true to the camera. The movie is a mockumentary with interspersed interviews to real-life artists (playing themselves), while Pareja works on the film and in the process wrecks his own life: He hires video-clip director Manolo Vázquez (played by Miki Esparbé; but Vázquez is the director of the real movie), who in turn recruits star Jordi Vilches (as himself) to play Àlex in re-enactments. But Àlex is not happy with Vilches' performance, style or public appearances - Vilches is a troublemaker. Àlex ends up a 6-year relationship with his performance artist girlfriend Lavinia (Alba Yañex) to try and woo the star actress of his movie, Marta Torné (as herself), who then rejects him. The city councilor Venturi (Blanca Martínez), who is also Àlex's dead girlfriend's mother, is totally unhappy with the project and tries to hinder it, and Àlex's contact in the government, failed snobbish artist Larra (Albert Ribalta), cannot or will not help him. Unexperienced in movie business, Àlex attempts to work on the set, but is disdained by his team, and also harshly criticized by the authors in the interviews. Against the ropes, Àlex accepts Vázquez's offer: Vázquez can do post-production with whatever material they have filmed. Vázquez asks to be credited as the director. Six months later, on a bar, Vázquez watches the TV ceremony of Goya awards, where The Heimlich Manuever was successful with at least three statues. However, the movie direction was credited to Àlex, who by then is dating Marta. Sad, Vázquez drinks his cup, eats the olive... and starts choking. Cut to credits.