24/02/2026 - BERLINALE 2026: The Spanish director reflects on the transformative power of love, exploring trans representation in contemporary cinema

(© Esther Boyarizo)

Ian de la Rosa, director of Iván & Hadoum [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ian de la Rosa
film profile], presented in the Berlinale's Panorama section and winner of the Teddy Award, told us about the key elements behind the production of his film and the portrayal of his homeland, Almería.

Cineuropa: You worked without a script with the actors for two months before shooting began. As this is your first feature, what were the risks and the freedoms involved? And how did they impact the original script?
Ian de la Rosa: For me, it was a very organic way of working; I had already used it in my previous short film and also in a stage production where I was an actor, which also had no script and where we spoke directly to the audience. As a director and actor, I think that freedom is enormous. For Iván & Hadoum, I knew I wanted to work this way, both with Silver and Herminia, who were making their on-screen debuts, and with the more seasoned cast around Iván, all of whom followed the same approach. That was also possible thanks to Mar Isern, who was the acting coach and also the intimacy coach.

The film deals with identity - not only in terms of sexual identity, but also identity at work and within the family. You’ve described it as a film about the power of love to start revolutions. Did you always imagine love as a positive force and the core of the story?
For me, love was always that: two people who meet, connect and grow together. I approached it in that way, with the clear idea that it should be a love that transforms them in a positive way. That was always the first idea, but it was also always connected to the context and the place where it happened, and to the work environment where it happened - in this case Almería. The socio-economic and working context makes it hard for them to get a chance. After the premiere at the Berlinale and the audience reactions, the Q&As and the press, I started to think that the film had many more layers - not only love, but also identity, work, family and expectations. In the end, I realised that we had written a more intersectional script than we thought.

When you watch the film, it feels like witnessing a slice of real life. That perhaps comes more naturally when you work in places that are yours, that you know and that are steeped in memories. Are there elements drawn from your own memory? How did you experience turning those real spaces into fiction?
The film is entirely fiction and there is nothing autobiographical, but of course it is very personal. I tried to put in all the reflections I had had, as well as the questions - and the few answers -  I had about love, about the trans experience and about the place where I grew up. It was very important to make that portrait and to be able to take a look at Almería, which for me is closely connected to trans representation in the sense that it has little representation in cinema. A lot is shot there because it is well known thanks to the spaghetti westerns and because it is the location for many international productions. One day, while we were shooting, we saw the production of the new remake of The Mummy. Almería often stands in for somewhere else (Mexico, Syria, etc.) and can rarely be itself, so it felt very important to achieve that representation. I think many factors come into play to make that happen, and they do not always align. The way we shot and rehearsed was one element, but casting, writing and staging were also fundamental. It was all a combination of elements, especially the intimacy work, which was a major learning experience, and the production design, which blended into Almería’s environment and faithfully captured its surroundings.

Can you share anything about your future projects?
I'm developing a script that I wrote almost in parallel with Iván & Hadoum and we hope to shoot within a year. I can't say more for now, but more news will be out soon.

(Translated from Spanish)