The 22nd Seville European Film Festival has hosted the world premiere of Catalonian filmmaker Marc Ortiz Prades’ debut feature, Els mals noms, in the Rampa section, devoted to new talents. By the end of the event, the film had picked up two awards: the AC/E Award for Best Direction of a Spanish Film, and the Ocaña Award for Freedom, bestowed upon an audiovisual work that addresses LGBTIQ+ topics.

Shot in authentic locations in Catalonia and Spain’s Levantine region, where the real person the film is based on lived, and constructed from the oral legacy the director himself received from relatives (his grandmother was the protagonist’s dressmaker) and acquaintances, Els mals noms focuses, with the utmost respect, on the figure of Florencio, popularly known as “La Pastora”. He was an intersex man born on 1 February 1917 who, with the support of his humble family, lived for more than 30 years as a woman, perfectly integrated into their village, until they dared to join the guerrilla group to flee the Guardia Civil during the dark years of the Civil War. Francoist propaganda exploited this to turn them into the perfect scapegoat, blamed for all of the area’s unsolved crimes. Thus, Teresa and, later, Florencio became - regretfully - a dark legend that still endures in the collective imagination.

Three actors portray this character at different moments in their life. Adrià Nebot, Álex Bausá and Pablo Molinero, clad in black to conceal a body they were ashamed of, bring them to life in childhood, youth and adulthood, respectively, in an episodic feature in which each chapter corresponds to a life stage and to a different name by which the protagonist was known.

Thanks to the tenebrist cinematography of Alberto Bañares, which accentuates the darkness of years marked by silence, flight, violence and discrimination, Els mals noms has the trappings of a western, clearly indebted to John Ford, as the character is often framed through doors and windows, hemmed in during their attempt to be themselves and enjoy their deserved freedom - a sensation further reinforced by the use of the 4:3 format.

In this way, as the protagonist gradually frees themself from their chains, the movie becomes an emotional, proud and heartfelt tribute to difference, exuding immense respect for a person who had to fight to find their place and identity, as they did not fit into the social labels that many feel compelled to use out of fear of confronting otherness.

Els mals noms is a production by Admirable Films, TV ON Producciones and Lamalanga Produccions.