Spanish filmmaker Júlia de Paz Solvas, one of the country’s most promising emerging voices, is ready to premiere her sophomore feature, The Good Daughter, a tender yet piercing portrayal of a young girl caught between family conflict and institutional indifference. The title will be premiered in the main competition of this year’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, unspooling in the Estonian capital from 7-23 November (see the news).

Produced by Astra Pictures and Avalon in co-production with Krater Films, the film follows Carmela, a girl whose life has been turned upside down ever since her father received a restraining order. Once her hero, he is now accused of gender-based violence against her mother. Their meetings are restricted to supervised family encounters, leaving Carmela struggling to reconcile her love for him with the painful new reality. As she navigates an adult world unwilling to listen and a judicial system that seems to fail her, Carmela becomes a mirror of youthful resilience and confusion.

A graduate of ESCAC, de Paz Solvas first drew attention with her graduation short Ama, which evolved into her acclaimed debut feature, Ama [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film] (2021), produced by Filmax and rewarded at the Málaga Film Festival. The film later screened at San Sebastián, SEMINCI and Amsterdam, earning Goya and Feroz Award nominations in 2022.

Developed at the Residency of the Spanish Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences, The Good Daughter expands on her earlier short of the same title, which won prizes at Clermont-Ferrand, Málaga, Alcine and the Gaudí Awards, and was distributed by Marvin & Wayne.

In 2021, Variety named de Paz Solvas one of the ten Spanish Talents to Watch, and since then, she has co-directed Disney+’s Las largas sombras with Clara Roquet and co-created Querer [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Alauda Ruiz de Azúa
scheda series], directed by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa for Movistar Plus+, released in late 2024.

“The Good Daughter is born of that moment when we choose to stop looking the other way,” the director tells Cineuropa. “What happens to the sons and daughters of women who are victims and survivors of gender-based violence? This film seeks to shed light on that silent, deep form of violence – one that hurts but often goes unseen, that feels almost impossible to name, and even harder to confront with the support and understanding it calls for.

“Carmela embodies the experience of many young women growing up amid silence, divided loyalties and half-truths. To walk with her is also to walk together as a society: to recognise, to name and to stop ignoring what is so often left unsaid,” de Paz further explained.

The Good Daughter stars newcomer Kiara Arancibia as Carmela, alongside Janet Novás (The Rye Horn [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Jaione Camborda
scheda film], Romería [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Carla Simón
scheda film]), Julián Villagrán (The Ministry of Time, Love You to Death, Not Such an Easy Life [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film]) and Petra Martínez (Close Your Eyes [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film], That Was Life [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Damián París e Rosa García…
intervista: David Martín de los Santos
scheda film], Petra [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Jaime Rosales
scheda film]). Beta Cinema is in charge of the pic’s world sales.

Check out our exclusive poster below: