Shot in autumn last year on location in various parts of Pontevedra, Matria [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Álvaro Gago
scheda film] (which is now having the finishing touches put to its post-production) is the title of the feature debut by Álvaro Gago, who scooped, among many other accolades, the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018 with his short of the same name (see the news).

The movie’s plot is set in a coastal town and shows how Ramona (played by María Vázquez, who appeared in Eye for an Eye [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Paco Plaza
scheda film] and Brothers-in-Law [+leggi anche:
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scheda film]) works in a frozen seafood factory and occasionally unloads mussels in the harbour, to supplement her meagre salary. She lives with her boyfriend, who works at sea and spends his free time drinking in the bar, and has a 21-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, with whom she has frequent clashes.

Ramona’s routine is disrupted when the factory managers inform the employees that they have had to reduce their salaries: she protests and is subsequently fired. She immediately starts working in the house of a man of very few words, who often takes her for granted. However, he changes his tune when Ramona helps him to pass the tests he needs to do to renew his driving licence. Their relationship blossoms, and she ends up finding her own little haven in that house.

According to the director, “Matria is inspired by the life of Francisca Iglesias, who worked in my grandfather’s house and who is a close friend of mine. It was her personal story that prompted me to start writing. We have already documented her daily struggle in my penultimate short film, where Francisca herself played the lead role; however, the length of the format obliged us to focus on only two aspects of her life, leaving aside a whole rich and complex universe, into which I dig deeper in my first feature.

“And so, on the narrative level, there’s a gradual increase in the amount of time I dedicate to exploring the protagonist’s private life. On the acting level, the performance switches from being based on impulsiveness to incorporating more reflective aspects. And on the visual level, the framing keeps the lead role fairly compressed at the start and gradually opens up as the story progresses,” explained the filmmaker. “We’ve been working with a cast that mixes actors with no experience and professionals who envelop themselves in the way people talk, move and understand life in the region where the movie unfolds. Because intonation, the musicality of the words and body language are just as important as the acting technique,” he sums up.

Álvaro Gago studied Communication and Music in Galicia, Theatre in Chicago, and Film in London. In 2017, he directed the short Matria, which was nominated for a Goya and scooped more than 70 awards. After that, he edited Trot [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Xacio Baño
scheda film], the feature debut by Xacio Baño. His subsequent short film, 16 de decembro, was premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in 2019.

Matria – which, at the project stage, was selected for the Berlinale Co-Production Market and the Mediterranean Film Institute – is a film staged by Matriuska Producciones, Avalon PC and Ringo Media. It has secured support from the ICAA, AGADIC, TVG, Pontevedra County Council and La Incubadora. It is slated for release at the end of 2022, distributed by Avalon, and its international sales have been entrusted to New Europe Film Sales.