A decade ago it was unthinkable for women to be at the forefront of cinema. His role in the seventh art was more linked to work related to costumes, makeup or production design. But behind the camera it was rare for a woman to stand out, let alone be recognized. Pilar Miró, Icíar Bollaín and Isabel Coixet led the way. In recent years, a new breed of highly talented female filmmakers have turned the tables and taken the industry by storm with films that have wowed critics and audiences alike.
One of the most popular names is Carla Simón, who this year won the coveted Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, becoming the first Spanish woman to achieve this milestone. The jury awarded her talent and her naturalness in Alcarràs, a film about the decline of the rural world, shot in Catalan and with non-professional actors. But recognition of her did not come to him again.
In 2017, in that same contest, he won the award for best first film with his first feature, Verano 1993 (Estiu 1993), which delves into the complicated period in which he had to face the death of his mother, and which It has also brought her more than one joy, like two Goyas, one as a screenwriter and the other as a new director. This year has been very fruitful for the Catalan, since she also became a mother last June. However, her creativity does not stop, as she will present the short film Letter from my mother to my son at the Venice festival, and she is preparing her third feature film, which will continue talking about the family, but this time outside of Catalonia .
Since Simón won the bobblehead in 2018 and to date, this award has been won by four other women, the last of them being Clara Roquet with her Libertad. A feature debut that was already showing signs of success when it was selected for the 60th Critics’ Week at the Cannes festival. The story, which was born from his first short called El adiós (2015), awarded at Seminci, managed to captivate critics. Before, he had tasted honey as a screenwriter for 10,000 km (2014) and Els dies que vindran (2019).
In 2019, the Basque Arantxa Echevarría did the same with her Carmen y Lola, a story starring two gypsy teenagers who fall in love despite the objections of their respective families. The recognition earned him to embark some time later on a comedy, the discreet The Perfect Family (2021), with which he worked hand in hand with actors of the stature of Belén Rueda and José Coronado. The director is currently shooting the film Chinas in Madrid, with which she recovers the social tone of her first work, starring Leonor Watling and Carolina Yuste.
Another name that stands out is that of Belén Funes, Goya for best new director in 2019 with La hija de un ladrón, a film that also swept the Gaudí awards. Starring Greta Fernández, Eduard Fernández and Àlex Monner, the film narrated the complicated life of Sara, who tries by all means to distance her father from both her life and that of her brother and her son. . The Catalan is now involved with La Ruta, the series that she directs together with Borja Soler and Carlos Marqués-Marcet for Atresplayer.
Pilar Palomero could not miss this list either, who revolutionized the 2021 Goyas with her debut film Las Niñas, in which she reflected the false modernity of the country in the 90s by narrating the adventures of a 12-year-old girl and her schoolmates as nuns. . The film met all expectations and managed to collect four of the nine awards to which she aspired: film, original screenplay, novel direction and photography. Her journey, not insignificant, raised her as one of the undisputed jewels of Spanish cinema of the 2020 pandemic.
Now the Aragonese based in Catalonia returns to the ring with a new work, La maternal, which will premiere in the official section of the San Sebastián festival and with which it will compete for the Golden Shell. On this occasion, its protagonist is a rebellious teenager from fourteen years old, played by the young Carla Quílez, who enters a center for underage mothers.
Also coming from Zaragoza is the scriptwriter and director Paula Ortiz, 43, who already stood out in 2011 with From your window to mine, for which she was nominated for best new direction, and in 2015 with The bride. Last year she brought her tribute to Chicho Ibáñez Serrador to the Sitges festival with her episode El Asphalt, from Stories to Keep from Sleeping. Like her companions, she continues this summer with the start of filming on her fourth film, Teresa, an adaptation of Juan Mayorga’s The Tongue in Pieces.
Nely Reguera (Barcelona, ??1978) has recently premiered her second work in cinemas, The Volunteer, with Carmen Machi. Her debut was in 2016 with María (y los otros), which was nominated for best new direction.
Alauda Ruiz de Azúa has been the last to join this select group with the acclaimed Cinco lobitos (2022), Biznaga de Oro at the latest edition of the Malaga festival.
All of them, talented filmmakers who share friendship and support each other by exchanging opinions about their respective works. Without a doubt, a model to imitate for future generations and a path to follow towards the long-awaited parity in the industry.
