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The Valencian Javier Polo, who graduated in Audiovisual Communication at the Universitat Politècnica de València (Gandia campus), is the director of "Una terapia de mierda". This irreverent documentary short film has been nominated for the 38th edition of the Goya Awards.

The gala will be held on 10 February 2024, and the awards will be announced. They Team will join the event with joy but limited expectations because, according to Polo, "all the shorts are excellent". "The Goya nomination alone is already very complicated," he says, satisfied with the achievement.

An outstanding career

It is something to be proud of. "Una terapia de mierda" accumulates important awards and nominations in 2023, including a Feroz Award, a Berlanga Award and a nomination at the Fugaz Awards.

On the well-known Youtuber Tamayo channel, where the short film was published to facilitate its dissemination, it got 100,000 views in the first 24 hours. The film can also be seen on the Filmin platform.

Against pseudo therapies

"Una terapia de mierda" is a funny and scathing parody based on a true story: in 2012, two biology students invented fecomagnetotherapy, which, they argued, could cure diseases using faecal samples and magnets. Its principles came from other pseudotherapies, such as homeopathy or magnet therapy.

The student inventors, Mariano Collantes and Fernando Cervera, aimed to demonstrate how simple and dangerous it is to validate pseudo-therapies with no scientific basis.

Despite not hiding the signs that it was an invention, for two years, they obtained a great repercussion (they never wanted to sell any product) and finally had to reveal themselves that it was a parody.

Reaching the general public

Javier Polo got involved in the short film thanks to its promoter and scriptwriter, Juanjo Moscardó, with whom he had already collaborated in a video clip directed by Javier from the group Lory Money. Polo gave the short film a more humorous twist and the characteristic kitsch style he had already shown in his documentary The Mistery of the Pink Flamingo. "We wanted to take it to a mainstream audience, through humour, but without losing the rigour".

The protagonists are not actors but the very scientists who invented fecomagnetotherapy. "They didn't limit my expression; I wanted to do my bit. It could have a huge impact on what they are denouncing, and it is necessary to let it know".

The Polo brothers

Javier and his brother Guillermo Polo, who also studied Audiovisual Communication in the Gandia campus of the UPV, are the founding partners of the production company Los hermanos Polo, from which they produce advertising audiovisuals and also promote their productions.

"We work together, but each project is led by one of us". Now, they are both finishing their first two fiction feature films. Javier hopes to present the film he is directing, "Pequeños calvarios", in autumn 2024. It features actors such as Andrea Duro and Arturo Valls. "It's a pretty cool step," he explains.

Guillermo Polo's film, "La carga el diablo", is a Spanish road movie featuring actors such as Pablo Molinero, Antonia Sanjuan and the sadly deceased Itziar Castro. The feature film is in post-production and will be screened in the first quarter of 2024.

Studying at the UPV

Javier has fond memories of his years studying at the UPV Gandia campus. "I was there from 2005 to 2010, and I had a brother three years earlier. We are a good example of how things can be achieved".

The Polo brothers also have friends from that time, such as Abdón Alcañiz, art director and visual designer of series such as "La casa de papel" and "Sky Rojo": "We hold each other in high esteem, we are from the same generation; we keep meeting, and we hope to be able to collaborate one day. Abdón has achieved a lot and is the mirror in which we look at ourselves".

Javier Polo advises Audiovisual Communication students to "work hard, experiment and get out of the box" to carry out their projects.