This year, 22 Catalan productions have been selected for the 72nd San Sebastian Film Festival, highlighting just how much the region’s film industry is booming.
Among them is Mamífera, directed by Liliana Torres. The Barcelona-born filmmaker wanted to tackle the subject of “non-maternity” — a woman’s decision not to have children — in response to a stigma she has felt personally.
Torres’ project, screening in San Sebastian this week, follows Lola (played by Maria Rodríguez Soto) and Bruno (Enric Auquer), two 40-something-year-olds in a happy relationship. As Lola watches her friends and family obsess over either their own children or having children, she is shocked to find herself pregnant and unhappy about it. Everyone around her is so connected to the experience of motherhood, Lola grapples with the idea that something is wrong with her.
The film offers a poignant commentary on the societal pressure placed on women to surrender to what Torres says is falsely described as “instinct.” The movie is also a celebration of Catalan as a language and Catalonia as a region — the Catalan government is, after all, year-on-year investing more money in film and television, with an estimated budget of around €50 million ($54.5 million) in 2024.
Torres spoke to The Hollywood Reporter on the Spanish coast about addressing “non-maternity” and why Catalan film is currently at its best — especially for female filmmakers.
Congratulations on such a thought-provoking film. How did Mamífera come to be, and why did you want to make a movie on this subject?
For me, it was an ongoing subject. Since I was a child, I already knew I didn’t want to have children. So when I was my 20s, most people were telling me, “Oh, no, that’s not what you think, it’s because you’re so young.” And then when I was in my 40s, people were telling me: “You will regret it.” So it’s a subject that has…
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