Filming began on 4 March, split between Toledo and Tenerife, on Blows at My Door, a feature directed by Venezuelan filmmaker Patricia Ortega, now based in Spain. Ortega took part in the Sundance’s World Cinema Dramatic competition with Mamacruz, has just premiered in Málaga 9 lunas, and has the biopic Caballé due for release (read more). The screenplay was written by Argentine Oscar winner Nicolás Giacobone (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)), together with the filmmaker Cecilia Libster (A propósito de Buenos Aires), based on a play by Argentine author Juan Carlos Gené.

The film stars Venezuelan actress Mimi Lazo (The Art of Losing, The Gigantes), Bárbara Cuesta (La boda), Daniel Arias (Mala persona) and Ramiro Blas (The Penguin Lessons), with special appearances by Neus Sanz (Volver, All in Favor) and Cuban actor Vladimir Cruz (Fresa y chocolate, recently in the series Chacal and Los Farad).

The story – previously adapted for the screen in 1993 by Alejandro Saderman under the same title, earning a Goya nomination for Best Ibero-American Film – follows two nuns confronted with a life-or-death dilemma when a man accused of terrorism knocks on their door in the middle of the night, seeking refuge. To protect him means becoming his accomplices; to hand him over means accepting his death sentence. From that moment on, the film plunges into a conflict in which the law, faith and conscience no longer align, set against a political backdrop marked by ideological tension.

“I’m very grateful to have been given this project, which reconnects me with my country, Venezuela, and is based on a play by a playwright who was exiled there. Immersing ourselves in this dystopian thriller with its socio-political undertones over the past few weeks has been a real challenge—a challenge as a filmmaker—but also a joy, as it has allowed us to explore new forms and perspectives,” says Patricia Ortega. “At a time when the world is facing war and many are excluded simply for being migrants or different, it is important to reflect on what each of us can do, and what decisions we can make, to stand up to a world that seeks to divide us,” she continues.

“For Eterno Island Pictures, establishing partnerships with companies with a strong presence in Latin America is crucial to reaching a wider market. Blows at My Door, with a screenplay by Oscar-winning Nicolás Giacobone, opens the door to the Spanish-speaking market in the United States, which has millions of viewers whose mother tongue is Spanish,” producer Patricia González tells Cineuropa. “The productions we have made to date are helping us secure distribution on streaming platforms and television channels that are very difficult to access from Spain. Productions such as Eva y Adán en Miami, Fiesta pagana and El pez que fuma strengthen our position as one of the leading Spanish and European production companies with a presence in the Latin American market,” she concludes.

Blows at My Door is produced by the Spanish company Eterno Island Pictures in association with the US companies VIP2000TV and Broadway en Español LLC, with Patricia González (producer and CEO of Eterno Pictures Studios), Roxana Rotundo (executive director and founder of VIP 2000 TV) and Ana María Lazo as executive producers.