“Things can be told in several ways. Cinema has a great capacity to transform the gaze. He has the ability to talk about subjects that, especially the ugliest ones, only appear when there is news or headlines,” filmmaker Juana Macías said on Tuesday in a meeting with elDiario members .es.
“Cinema has the power to make us talk and think without the news being there, in a more transversal way. These are perspectives that add up, these are voices,” added the director of The girls at the station in a conversation with fellow filmmaker Icíar Bollaín and the editor-in-chief of Gender on elDiario.es, Ana Requena. Macías and Bollaín launched a plea against gender-based violence during their meeting at the editorial office.
The filmmakers spoke, just one day after 25N, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, about the importance of art in giving visibility to women victims of the patriarchal system, by serving to showcase a reality that is there and of which society must be made aware.
“Each film is different and helps you put yourself in the shoes of other people who are not like you and who are going through different circumstances. This represents further progress. It’s not just about bringing up something terrible, but something that can be changed. And every film brings something, it adds up,” Macías said of cinema’s role in combating gender-based violence.
The truth is that the director is in one of the most important weeks of her professional career thanks to her film The girls at the stationreleased in theaters last Friday. His sixth feature film deals with the mistreatment of minors in care, in which Macías seeks to denounce the “look of stigma and reproach” that weighs on these girls “because they belong to this situation or live in a center for minors. »
“I wanted to tell this story from their point of view. There are things that seem terrible to me, but I wanted to get away from my prejudices and understand them, how they act and what their circumstances are,” the filmmaker explained to the audience, who nodded empathetically.
Icíar Bollaín, who is having a great moment thanks to the premiere of I am Nevenkaone of the most important Spanish films of the year since its presentation in the Official Section of the San Sebastian Festival. The director was already interested in gender-based violence in her acclaimed film I give you my eyeswhich earned him the Goya for best achievement in 2004; However, Bollaín returns on this occasion to the story of a woman who, in 2000, denounced the mayor of Ponferrada, more than two decades ago.
“The film creates a mirror effect and says where we are today. The image given of Nevenka was one and the reality was another. It is a story that deserves to be told today because we continue at similar levels: the abuse and harassment have not receded,” Bollaín said, affirming that the silence is breaking but remains a constant.
Both agreed that while there appears to be change, there is still a long way to go. “Sometimes I hear that we have learned… of course?” Icíar Bollaín asked wryly, provoking a knowing laugh from the audience. “I still remember the manada affair, where once again, it was the woman who was judged instead of the victims,” recalls the filmmaker. “I admire the way a film can talk about child abuse and prostitution without you seeing it explicitly. You feel it, you suffer it, but it happens behind closed doors. And it’s the decision of a director who decides not to make a spectacle of it,” he commented. The girls at the stationhis partner’s film. “We, women, produce an audiovisual in which we recount the atrocity of violence without embellishing it. »
Marisol, one of the members present at the meeting, broke the ice during the question period to ask what it was like for Bollaín not to be able to film I am Nevenka in Ponferrada, location of the events. “When we first went there, the mayor was from the PSOE and we met two councilors who opened a lot of doors and contacts for us to explore, giving us invaluable information. But, when we started filming with the producers officially, the PP decided with Vox. We have submitted requests for filming and they have not yet responded to us,” explained the filmmaker. “It is a government very close to [el alcalde acusado] Ismael Álvarez, and I guess they don’t want to get in trouble.
At the end of the meeting, Sara, another attendee, felt that “the meeting was very timely” at that time. “A case that dates back more than 20 years and is very current, but in which there is a very dangerous line of continuity,” adds this enthusiast of Spanish cinema, who admits to having seen so many things. The girls at the station as I am Nevenka.
Both films are based on true events, which gives even more weight to the investigation phase. “The more research I did, the more people talked, the more giddy I felt at the idea of making this film because the subject is extremely complex. In addition to the abuse, sub-themes begin to emerge everywhere: life in these centers, the educators, the more human dimension…” said Juana Macías. “It’s very enriching, because we learn a lot and we break down many prejudices,” added Icíar Bollaín.
However, leaders believe that the generational change underway is positive. “I saw I am Nevenka with my children, with my nephews, and they see what is wrong. I find it wonderful that young people identify that something is happening and that it is not good,” Bollaín emphasized.
However, as Macías added, there are areas that need to continue to pay attention: “Now, with social media, we have to take the protection of children very seriously. A lot of sexual violence is being normalized and, thanks to networks, there is an avenue of access that has never existed before. With their words, both stressed the importance of putting emphasis in the right place. And not just in what is told, but in how it is told. The members responded with unanimous applause.
