19/01/2023 - For her new fiction feature as a director, which she co-wrote with Jorge Gil Munarriz, the actress has enlisted the services of thesps Alicia Falcó, Elena Tarrats and Itziar Ituño

Actress Elena Tarrats, director Silvia Munt and actress Alicia Falcó on the set of Las buenas compañías (© Nico de Assas)

Las buenas compañías [+see also:
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The movie, which is based on real events, tells the story of a group of women who, in the 1970s and 1980s, devoted themselves to fighting for women’s rights. Also involved in making this story of sisterhood are the winner of the Goya Award for Best New Actress, María Cerezuela (Maixabel [+see also:
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interview: Icíar Bollaín
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interview: Alejandro Amenábar
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The storyline kicks off in 1976, when 16-year-old Bea (played by Alicia Falcó) is swept up in the winds of change blowing across Spain, as she teams up with the women demanding the approval of the right to abortion. This act of rebellion will intertwine with an unexpected feeling when she meets Miren (played by Elena Tarrats), with whom she strikes up a very special friendship. All this will turn that summer into a decisive stage of her life.

In the director’s own words: “After 44 years, many demands from that era are still proving necessary. We live in a world where women and their freedoms have undeniably taken a step forwards, but we mustn’t forget where we came from, how hard it was to reach the point we’re at today and how easy it can be to undo all that we have achieved so far.”

After a lengthy career as an actress, having appeared in more than 50 films – during which time she picked up the Goya Award for her role in Butterfly Wings (Juanma Bajo Ulloa, 1991), among other gongs – in 1998, Silvia Munt (Barcelona, 1957) began a parallel career as a director of fiction films, documentaries and stage plays. Since then, she has helmed more than 15 audiovisual works, standing out among which are the documentary short Lalia (1999), which scooped a Goya; the documentary feature Gala (2004); Pretextos (2008), a fiction feature that competed in the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and with which she took home the Best Director Award from the Málaga Film Festival; and her latest documentary project, La granja del Pas (2015), with which she snagged the top prize at SEMINCI, among others.

Las buenas compañías is a Spanish-French film being staged by Irusoin, Oberon Media and En la frontera película AIE, in co-production with Manny Films and La Fidèle Production. It has secured funding from the ICAA, ICEC and the Basque Government, and boasts the involvement of RTVE, EITB and TV3. Filmax is in charge of its Spanish distribution.

(Translated from Spanish)