Malena doesn’t have it easy. She has managed to leave behind an abusive husband, but now she must fight to reunite with her teenage children, look for a job that allows her to fly alone, and settle down with her new partner to be a mother again. And all this in a country like Mexico where being a woman is an obstacle course.
Mexican dream, Laura Plancarte’s documentary about Malena’s life, which is a hymn to female empowerment, won the best film award last night at the 27th edition of DocsBarcelona. “The Mexican filmmaker revises the stereotype of the selfless Latin American woman, a traditional sufferer of sexist violence,” said the international jury made up of Elvira Dyangani Ose, SilviaAlbert Sopale, Hugo Jinseok Kang, Efthymia Zymvragaki and Petrula Veljanovska.
Casa Reynal, a documentary directed by Laia Manresa shot in Val d’Aran (Vielha and Mijaran, Arties), Lleida, Bellvís, Maresme, Caldes de Malavella, Mollerussa and Barcelona, ??won the prize for best Catalan film. After the death of his grandmother and before the sale of Casa Reynal, the house located in the town of Bellvís where he was born, Manresa decides to save his life from oblivion, marked by the migratory journey from the countryside to the city, by the desire to prosper and for the death of his little son when he was only eight years old.
Another Catalan film, Un estel fugaç, has also made a place for itself in the list of winners by obtaining the Docs¬Cat special mention. Directed by Arturo Méndiz and Ignasi Guerrero, Un estel fugaç delves into Ignasi’s emotional journey to overcome the death of his little son Pep when he was only four months old.
In addition, Our land, Our freedom, a film directed by Zippy Kimundu and Meena Nanji that tells the story of two Kenyan mother and daughter women determined to investigate the crimes of British colonial domination in Kenya, won the Docs special mention
The 27th edition of DocsBarcelona, ??which closed last night with the awards ceremony at the CCCB, has attracted 10,000 spectators, of which 7,000 have come to see the documentary film offering in theaters, which represents an increase of 60% compared to last year’s edition.
“The presence of the public reaffirms the interest in documentary cinema, but in this event the local and international creative ebullition of filmmakers who work with reality has also been revealed,” said the artistic director of DocsBarcelona, ??Anna Petrus.
Enric Motjer, director of DocsBarcelona Industry 2024, highlighted the presence of 700 professionals in his market: “We are convinced that we are already a point of reference in the professional world of non-fiction in southern Europe,” he assured.
