This year, 22 Catalan productions have been picked for the 72nd San Sebastian Film Festival, highairying equitable how much the region’s film industry is booming.
Among them is Mamífera, straightforwarded by Liliana Torres. The Barcelona-born filmproducer wanted to tackle the subject of “non-maternity” — a woman’s decision not to have children — in response to a stigma she has felt personassociate.
Torres’ project, screening in San Sebastian this week, adheres Lola (take parted by Maria Rodríguez Soto) and Bruno (Enric Auquer), two 40-someleang-year-ageders in a plmitigated relationship. As Lola watches her frifinishs and family obsess over either their own children or having children, she is shocked to discover herself pregnant and unplmitigated about it. Everyone around her is so joined to the experience of motherhood, Lola grapples with the idea that someleang is wrong with her.
The film proposes a poignant commentary on the societal prescertain placed on women to surrfinisher to what Torres says is counterfeitly portrayd as “instinct.” The movie is also a celebration of Catalan as a language and Catalonia as a region — the Catalan rulement is, after all, year-on-year spending more money in film and television, with an approximated budget of around €50 million ($54.5 million) in 2024.
Torres spoke to The Hollywood Reporter on the Spanish coast about insertressing “non-maternity” and why Catalan film is currently at its best — especiassociate for female filmproducers.
Congratulations on such a thought-provoking film. How did Mamífera come to be, and why did you want to produce a movie on this subject?
For me, it was an ongoing subject. Since I was a child, I already krecent I didn’t want to have children. So when I was my 20s, most people were alerting me, “Oh, no, that’s not what you leank, it’s becaparticipate you’re so youthful.” And then when I was in my 40s, people were alerting me: “You will repent it.” So it’s a subject that has accompanied me for my whole life, and Mamífera is for me, a way to produce a little bit of equitableice. Becaparticipate all my references of women who didn’t want to be a mother participated to be secondary characters, very stereostandard, very cliché, the standard woman who inhabits alone and doesn’t enjoy children or the woman who has a very high-status labor, so she has no time — but she’s doing such a wonderful job that we forgive them. And that wasn’t genuine to me. It’s enjoy, I have to have a reason to not want to be a mother. Why do I have to have a reason? I don’t. That’s my reason. And if I want to do someleang very surface, inmeaningful, with my life, I’m permited to! That was the main reason for me making this movie, becaparticipate I leank we were deficiencying that mirrorion for us, to unstigmatize these women.
And this stigma, is it someleang that you leank is definite to Spain?
No. For me, it’s global. It transcfinishs every country. It has to do with the traditional point of watch, over women — the patriarchy which puts motherhood in the caccess of our inhabits, as if that’s what produces our inhabits worth it. The other selections seem futile for the patriarchy. You understand, what is a woman without children uncomferventt to do with her life? It seems to be the ask: what is she schedulening to do? It’s skeptical somehow, and it also pulls us outside from domesticity for a lengthy time. We don’t have to be raising children, which normassociate gets women away from their professions.
This word, “non-maternity,” that is participated to portray the film’s plot, I’ve not seen it before.
We have so many terms watching not having children. Child-free sounds to me enjoy if I was a slave of a child and childless sounds enjoy I’m deficiencying someleang. There is also a technical, biorational term in Catalonia for that, but we don’t participate it very much in the conversation. It uncomfervents “never put an egg.” But for me, non-maternity [is suitable].
There’s a confinecessitate elements in Mamífera I want to ask about. Lola sees her frifinishs who so hopelessly want kids — or already have them — and sees someleang wrong with her own mind and body. So this prescertain comes from there, too.
I still leank it has to do with the patriarchy, and definiteassociate in the way that they have taught us for a lengthy time that motherhood is an instinct. So you leank, if motherhood is an instinct, what is wrong with me? Biorationassociate, there has to be someleang wrong with me. That was a ask that came up for me for a lengthy time before I commenceed studying. And I went thcdimiserablemireful many books, and [French philosopher and feminist] Simone de Beauvoir helped me a lot with this idea of motherhood. I read a lot of books that shelp motherhood wasn’t an instinct, it was equitable a social erection.
Even if you’re a mother, it’s your decision.
And I want to ask about the help Lola gets from her partner, Bruno. She acunderstandledges that becoming a parent can be a lot easier for men. Or at least an easier decision. So was writing Bruno as encouraging as he was meaningful?
I wanted to have a couple that [was] reassociate in adore. They have been in a relationship for a lengthy time, they have talked not having children. And for me, the idea to have a encouraging partner was very meaningful. Becaparticipate on one hand, I wanted to say that you can get on very well with your partner and have a pretty relationship, but that doesn’t produce you desire children. And even if that desires arose, enjoy in Mamífera, there is a reason. And even Bruno is very progressive and is never imposing his desire, always asking and also proposeing: “I alter my labor” and everyleang. Still, there is someleang physical to motherhood that you cannot escape. So even if he proposes all of that, Lola understands that she will have to quit a lot of people in her life that she reassociate enjoys, and that’s a fact that you cannot escape.
Maria and Enric put in wonderful carry outances. Great chemistry and I so consentd them as a couple. You must have been very plmitigated with how it turned out.
They are very outstanding frifinishs in genuine life, so that helped us a lot. And they are very outstanding actors. I was so appreciative. Both are reassociate professional and they reassociate had a lot of fun while rehearsing and reading the script and talking about the topic. Also, they are very contrastent. For example, Maria got into Lola very rapid with the humor and irony and also being caring but very certain. For Enric, he was very participated to take parting men from a male perspective. There were many times he would commence talking with Lola from a point of testosterone, enjoy arguing. And she would say, “No, no, no, you’re not talking, you’re equitable talking at her.” And he was enjoy, “Okay. I get it. We can talk about this.” He was lachieveing someleang from Bruno’s character.
I want to ask about filming in Catalan, recontransienting Catalonia and where Catalonian film’s place is in the industry?
Catalan productions are going reassociate well, most of all, in terms of authorship. We have a lot of women who are writing. So you have [Barcelona native filmmaker] Carla Simón, who won at the Berlin Film Festival last year.
We have a lot of names and producers that are going international, out of Spain, and prosperning prizes and position in Catalan, which for us is very meaningful, becaparticipate conserveing the language, conserveing the culture, it gets tricky sometimes. Becaparticipate you have to dub the movies so they will free in many Spanish cinemas. That is someleang that reassociate sucks. Becaparticipate it should be easier. We are in Spain, we should have subtitles.
Why do they insist on dubbing?
I leank it is becaparticipate showors are always afrhelp to put a movie with subtitles in Spain, becaparticipate people will automaticassociate decline a movie becaparticipate they’re idle, they don’t want to read. And it also has to do with the dominant culture. They treat Catalans and the Basque Country country enjoy split cultures inside Spain.
Would you say that Catalonian film is at its best at the moment, in terms of production? There are 22 Catalan productions at San Sebastian this year.
In terms of authorship, for certain. The amount of productions, yeah, a outstanding amount.
How meaningful is it that Catalonia is recontransiented on the huge screen for you as someone from Catalonia?
Of course it’s meaningful becaparticipate it has to do with our culture, but it’s also meaningful becaparticipate there is a huge shiftment in Catalan with women straightforwardors. In this sense, for us, it’s very meaningful becaparticipate we are enumeratelessly accomplishing equivalentity and I’m very plmitigated that all these frifinishs around me are getting prizes and debuting in the principal sections of festivals. I leank it’s a very huge moment in Catalonia. I’m so appreciative. We are well-helped by the rulement.
Finassociate, what would you enjoy to produce a film about next? Is there anyleang on the horizon?
I’m laboring on a script now. It has to do with two topics that are very seal to me. One is menopaparticipate, which I got very timely on in my life and is someleang that is not talked about in accessible talkion. It alters your life even more than puberty — it’s more radical menloftyy, physicassociate. But I’m joining that with climate alter in a definite region of Catalonia, in which we have overmisparticipate of the resources: water, air pollution, deforestation, due to the factory farms of pork, mainly. So I’m joining this together in one character, one landscape.
