Celebrating women in Spanish cinema
INSTITUTO Cervantes, the Spanish Embassy’s cultural arm in the Philippines, actively joins the world’s celebration of Women’s Month this March with the return of its annual film series, “Espacio Femenino” (feminine or women’s space).
The project aims to honor the works and culture created by women for women with five screenings of various female-centered Spanish films on March 7, 14, 16, 21, and 23. Viewing is free for all, with a 2 pm showing for all movies at Instituto Cervantes’ Intramuros branch. Seating is arranged on a firstcome, first-served basis.
Espacio Femenino will present four feature films and three short films directed by women, both fiction and nonfiction, playing on the theme of disorderly imaginaries, all highlighting the characters of their authors and displaying quality Spanish cinema with a female signature. On March 7, the film series starts with “África 815” (2015), a creative documentary written, produced, and directed by Pilar Monsell, using her father’s photographs and diaries. The documentary reconstructs the complex stories of her father during his military service in the Spanish colony of the Sahara in 1964. Monsell, a filmmaker, editor, scriptwriter, visual artist, and researcher, is best known for her experimental cinema, film performance, memory, and archive film.
“La mami” (2019) is next on March 14. Written and directed by Laura Herrero Garvín, the film unfolds the raw realities of escort ladies at the Barba Azul cabaret in Mexico City. The piece offers a social, ethical, and tremendously human portrait of the world of call girls, mainly following Doña Olga, known as “Mami” — a former cabaret performer with over 45 years in the business, now in charge of the women’s restroom. Multiple stories come to life as the routine, struggles, and conversations of the cabaret girls take place in the intimate space for women. “La mami” was awarded at multiple film festivals and won Best Film at the Cinema Tropical Awards.
On March 16, three short films take the stage with “Cortos en femenino”: “Oro rojo” (2021), written and directed by Carme Gomila; “Escamas” (2020), co-written and directed by Katherina Harder; and “Sorda” (2021), written and directed by Nuria Muñoz Ortiz and Eva Libertad. “Oro Rojo” is an animated social commentary on the issues of environmental exploitation, racism, and capitalism through the lives of three Moroccan immigrant women working in the countryside of Huelva.
“Escamas” follows the story of Alicia, a woman who underwent a mastectomy due to breast cancer, and her neighbor, Lucia, a transsexual woman, finding acceptance with each other’s help.
The final segment of “Cortos en femenino,”“Sorda,” is the first sign language film with a Goya award nomination, telling the story of a young couple, Angela and Darío, facing the new challenge of having a child as Angela struggles to fight the war of being a deaf woman in a prejudiced society.
The fourth film will be shown on March 21 with “Las cinéphilas” (2017), the first feature-length documentary in a trilogy about art and its meaning over time, written and directed by María Alvarez. It focuses on three retired women living in Buenos Aires, Madrid, and Montevideo as they explore their passion for cinema.
“Espacio Femenino” will conclude the series on March 23 with “Viaje al cuarto de una madre” (2018), an awardwinning debut film that encompasses the relationship between a mother and daughter as they learn their own identity as women and as individuals. The film won the Youth Award at the San Sebástian Festival and the Asecan Award for Best Film.
This Women’s Month film series will run in Spanish with English subtitles. It is presented by Instituto Cervantes de Manila in collaboration with the Mostra Internacional de Films de Dones de Barcelona and the Embassy of Spain in the Philippines.
For details on securing a seat, visit Instituto Cervantes’ Facebook page (www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila) or log on to: https://cultura. cervantes.es/manila/en/espaciofemenino.-imaginarios-alborotados/167699.