Section curated by Ainhoa Rodríguez
In a context such as the Social Sciences, where the dominant discourse is androcentric, and in the world of filmmaking, where the presence of women directors at festivals is still unequal, the organisation of MICE considers that it is necessary to reinforce the presence of films made and/or produced by women. The section is thus an open invitation to women professionals in the world of cinema and audiovisuals who programme films made by women directors.
In this edition, our invitation has been accepted by Ainhoa Rodríguez, the director behind the much-awarded film Destello bravío. The film was recognized with the Silver Biznaga, the Jury Award, and the award for Best Editing at Málaga’s Film Festival. It also won the Dunia Award at San Sebastián Film Festival, the Best Film Award at Burgas International Film Festival, and the Best Film Award at Trieste’s ShorTS International Film Festival.
Throughout her filmmaking career, Rodríguez was recognized with the Best Filmmaker Award at the 26th Vilnius International Film Festival and the 23rd Seoul International Women’s Film Festival. She also won the Violette d’Or at Cinespaña in Toulouse.
Ainhoa Rodríguez holds a Ph.D. in film theory and criticism from Universidad Complutense de Madrid and an advanced diploma (DEA) in marketing and audiovisual communication. She graduated in audiovisual communication and holds a degree in filmmaking and TV production (TAI). Variety included her in the “10 On the Rise Cineastes from Spain” list they published for Berlinale’s 2021 edition. Her short films have been recognized with several awards worldwide, too.Variety included her in the “10 On the Rise Cineastes from Spain” list they published for Berlinale’s 2021 edition.
Rodríguez also works as a professor and cultural disseminator of film language at different universities and institutions, public and private. At the same time, she develops immersive film projects that explore feminist and non-normative approaches to the rural world.
destello bravío
Thursday, March 16 at 8.30 p.m. Numax .
2021 I 98 min I España
Director: Ainhoa Rodríguez
Cast: Isabel María Mendoza, Guadalupe Gutiérrez, Carmen Valverde, Isabel Valverde, Isabel María Giraldo, Petra Parejo, Valentina Jiménez
Destello bravío is an enigmatic and captivating film, a fictional story that resorts to documentary techniques to narrate the life of a small town in a rural area of inland Spain. The main characters are played by non-actors, women of different ages, old and young, whose bodies do not follow the current mainstream beauty standards of a “perfect” figure because they have real faces and natural bodies. They channel their emotional truth into their roles.
“A fierce, blinding flash will shine on our eyes, and everything will change for good….” Isa records messages like this on her tape recorder. The recipient? Her future self: they will be there for a time when she’ll lose their memory, for when she is gone. Cita feels trapped in her marriage, in a house filled with figurines of virgins and saints. María returns to her hometown to fight loneliness. These women, inhabitants of a rural area frozen in time and torn by depopulation, spend their days halfway between their apathetic everyday life where nothing interesting ever happens and a growing desire for liberating experiences that allow them to reconnect with the place where they once were happy… where they once dreamed of happiness.
Thursday, March 16 at 21.45h p.m.: Q and A: Ainhoa Rodríguez and A Cuarta Parede
For this section, the director chose two more films: Cow by Andrea Arnold and ElDorado XXI by Salomé Lamas.
cow
Friday, March 17 at 10.00 p.m. Numax
2021 | 94 min | Reino Unido
Director: Andrea Arnold
Andrea Arnold is an independent filmmaker with a unique filmography and vision, someone with the ability to make an austere full-length documentary about a cow –and to make it poignant. Her film Cow premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
The film is a call to consider cows and to approach them. To discover their beauty and their challenging existence in a realistic way –without romanticizing them. Cow is a film about the everyday life of a cow and a thank you for everything cows do for us. “When I look at Luma, our cow, I see the whole world in her.”
Eldorado XXI
Saturday, March 18 at 6 p.m. Numax
2016 I 125 min I Portugal
Director: Salomé Lamas
Eldorado XXI is a mysterious and unsettling ethnographic documentary filmed in Cerro Lunar and La Rinconada, a Peruvian Andes town known to be the highest permanent settlement in the world, at more than 16,700 ft above sea level. The dreadful living conditions and the population’s rituals to reach a trance are austerely portrayed by the camera. At the same time, the convoluted accounts of the locals fuse with captivating music and coca leaves. A frenzied quest for the unattainable riches of mythical Eldorado, which in the 21st century hasn’t let go of its ancestral roots –not even the gold rush and human sacrifices.