Festival opening ceremony with the award to the cinema pioneer Cecilia Bartolomé and the spanish preview of "CODA"

One of the objectives of the Women's Film Festival is to value those cinematography professionals whose names, in many cases little known, are part of the talent of our country. From May 14th, 1896, date of the first public screening in Spain to 1984, when Pilar Távora presented at the Berlinale her first film “Nanas de espinas”, by the end of the Spanish transition to democracy, there were only 7 women directors in the Spanish cinema. A pitiful reality in 88 years of history!

For this reason, we consider it is essential to make new female references visible and to rewrite the history of our cinema prioritizing equality. Starting from the certainty that the inclusion and recognition of women begins with awareness, in this 4th edition, we are going to focus on 7 resistant pioneer women professionals in Spanish cinema in collaboration with the television channel 8Madrid TV, where some of their films will be broadcasted.

The first woman´s name to be known was Helena Cortesina (1904-1984), a Valencian pioneer of silent film. She was soon followed by three self-taught women who developed a career marked by the suffocating environment and the political situation in Spain. They made the cinema that was then expected, loaded with the traditionalism and typical manners of Spanish melodrama. We are talking about: Rosario Pi Brujas (Barcelona, ​​1899-Madrid, 1967), whose film El Gato Montés (1935) will be broadcast on 8madrid TV on Thursday, October 28th at 6:45 p.m. Margarita Alexandre (León, July 3, 1923-Madrid, December 23, 2015), who directed 3 feature films entirely and produced 8 films in Spain and Cuba, and Ana Mariscal (Madrid, July 31st, 1923 - March 28th, 1995), who was an actress, screenwriter, director and film producer. She directed 11 feature films, in total, including El camino (1963), whose recent restored copy was released in May at the last Cannes Festival, and which will be screened at the Sala Berlanga of the SGAE Foundation on October 28th at 6:30 p.m. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Miguel Delibes, with which she achieved critical recognition of her work behind the camera. 

They were followed by a trilogy of heterogeneous filmmakers who were, properly speaking, the first professional directors: Pilar Miró Romero (Madrid, April 20th, 1940 - Madrid, October 19th, 1997). She directed 9 feature films, she wrote 16 teleplays and 6 scripts. From 1986 to 1989 she was Director-General of RTVE. On Saturday October 30th (10pm) 8madrid TV will broadcast her film Tu nombre envenena mis sueños. 

Josefina Molina Reig (Córdoba, November 14th, 1936), is a Spanish film director, screenwriter, television producer, novelist and stage director. She has directed 30 films, in total, including shorts and feature films for film theatres and for television. She has written more than 20 scripts. In 2011 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Spain awarded her the Goya de Honor award for her outstanding career. On Tuesday, November 2nd, La Lola se va a los puertos, based on a text by Manuel and Antonio Machado, will be broadcasted on 8madrid TV. And 

Cecilia Bartolomé Pina, to whom we are going to award the Outstanding Career in the industry Award of the current 4th edition of the Women's Film Festival. Born in Alicante on September 10th, 1940, she spent her childhood and whole teen years in Equatorial Guinea. Cecilia Bartolomé started her career making films and commercials for the documentary and advertising industries. She made films that are feminist, modern and fun. She was a pioneer when addressing topics that were socially and politically taboo, such as abortion, divorce or Spanish colonialism, or current hot topics, such as the Spanish political Transition to democracy, for which she received sounded recognition.

The award, which will be presented at the Festival's Opening Gala Ceremony, is given by the Festival's Selection Committee and consists of a jewel-award, courtesy of the renowned designer Chus Burés, and an Orca bag with a selection of sound accessories, courtesy of CineTools. The winners of this award in previous editions have been: Belén Atienza, film producer, 2018; Teresa Font, film editor, 2019 and Eva Valiño, film sound engineer, 2020.

Emilia Jones in a film frame and CODA poster

At the Opening Gala Ceremony, we will also present the preview in Spain of CODA, directed by the American Sian Heder and starring Emilia Jones and Eugenio Derbez, courtesy of Tripictures. A tender, energetic and emotional feature film that arrives in Spain as the great winner of Sundance 2021, with 4 awards to its credit, including the Grand Jury Prize and the Best Film Award.
This film tells the story of Ruby, a teenager categorized as a CODA ('child of deaf adult'), daughter of deaf adults, who finds herself torn between the obligations she feels towards her family and the pursuit of her own dreams.