24/07/2025 - The LGBTQI+ romantic drama, set in Franco's Navarre, champions freedom in a time of surveillance, repression, and silence

Sena Ortiz de Zárate and Nerea Rodríguez in Censurada

Censurada, the first feature film by screenwriter Mario Garza, was shot in the Valdizarbe Valley (Navarre) and is a drama set in Spain in 1969. It portrays a relationship forbidden by a repressive and abusive society, following two teenagers who must confront an environment that refuses to let them be themselves. Post-production has now been completed and the film is set to premiere at film festivals and cinemas later this year.

Salomé Aramendía (played by singer Nerea Rodríguez, who appeared in the series Vestidas de azul) is an 18-year-old girl with dyslexia, a talent for music and a quiet soul. After losing her younger brother in an accident on the same day as her long-awaited audition for the Pamplona Music Academy, her life changes dramatically. Her father, unmoved by her passion, sends her to a village to care for her uncle, a priest. There, she meets Miranda (played by actress and dancer Sena Ortiz de Zárate, making her film debut), a free-spirited, voracious reader with many interests, who dreams of travelling across Europe to escape the life her mother has planned for her: marrying a local man and becoming a housewife.

An intimate bond develops between them that goes beyond friendship: Miranda sees in Salomé a talent that deserves to be shared, while Salomé finds in her friend an outlet for her repressed emotions. Together, they roam the fields of the valley, sharing books, secrets and songs. Miranda helps Salomé compose her first song for a radio contest, becoming her guide, her accomplice, and her first love. But the villagers begin to suspect something. Rumours spread, mothers keep watch, and the Church grows uneasy. What began as a bright complicity becomes a threat to the established order. When their relationship becomes public, the girls are forced to face not only social judgement, but also the violence of rejection. In a world where censorship governs everything—from the press to feelings—Censurada explores how love can be a revolutionary act.

“If you’re human, you’ve been censored. We’ve all, at some point, felt like we couldn’t be ourselves," says Mario Garza, a Mexican filmmaker based in Los Angeles, who explains how his own life experience inspired him to tell this story. "I'm still Salomé and Miranda every day, feeling the pressure to fit in, to make the ‘right’ choices. But if I wrote a happy ending for them, I can do the same for myself," he adds.

Censurada is a film produced by Mario Garza and Sarah Gamazo, from Koolshiit Productions, based in Navarre and Los Angeles. The film was developed with the support of the UCLA screenwriting programme, the Government of Navarre, and through crowdfunding campaigns.

(Translated from Spanish)