Juana Macías works on The Girls at the Station
- The Spanish filmmaker exposes the sexual exploitation of minors in a drama based on real events, now in post-production and starring several newcomers
Shooting began on 5 June on The Girls at the Station [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], the sixth feature film from Juana Macías, director of films such as Planes para mañana [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile] and Bajo el mismo techo [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and who has yet to release the comedy Just One Small Favor. The plot of her new film - already in the editing phase - is based on true events. Three friends placed in a juvenile facility who get caught up in a prostitution ring.
Written by the screenwriter Isa Sánchez (Alegría [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), it stars Julieta Tobío, Salua Hadra and María Steelman in their first work as actresses, selected after a casting throughout Spain for more than a year by Eva Leira and Yolanda Serrano. The film was shot on location in Palma de Mallorca and Madrid.
Its synopsis introduces Jara, Alex and Miranda, who have grown up in a juvenile facility without knowing what unconditional love is. When Jara's birthday arrives, they want to celebrate it at the concert of their favourite trap queen, but they need money and they don't have many options to get it. Then they meet a girl older than them, a former boarder at the centre, who tries to get dates with adults in the toilets of the bus station and who has been offering them the chance to earn some easy money for some time.
"It’s shocking to think that Spain is the second country in the world in terms of consumption of child pornography and that the sexual exploitation of minors still exists. That's the first reason for making this film: to turn sporadic news headlines or impersonal statistics into a story that sheds light on the hell of so many abused girls and boys," says the director.
"But also on their abusers, who are everywhere, whether they are respectable office workers, nice waiters or reputable lawyers and parents," she continues. "This is a story about a harsh, invisible reality, or rather, one that nobody wants to see. But in this story, as well as harshness and exposure, there is beauty: the beauty of friendship, hope, music, of life projects full of excitement, of naivety," she concludes.
The Girls at the Station is a production by FeelGood Media (Juana Macías, Juan Moreno and Guilermo Sempere), Kowalski Films (Koldo Zuazua), La Perifèrica Produccions (Bárbara Ferrer, Montse Rodríguez y Cesc Mulet) and Las chicas de la estación A.I.E. With the participation of RTVE and Movistar Plus+, and the support of the ICAA, the Government of the Balearic Islands and the Community of Madrid. The film will be released in 2024 with Spanish distribution by A Contracorriente Films and international sales by Film Factory Entertainment.
(Translated from Spanish by Vicky York)
Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.
