Filming is currently under way in Valencia on La dona invisible, a black comedy-mystery directed by Cristina Fernández Pintado. The film is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Mònica Richart, with a screenplay by María Mínguez (Unicorns).

The lead actresses are Mona Martínez (Goya nominee for Adiós and seen in Narciso at this year’s Berlinale) and Victoria Oliver (Alumbramiento), supported by Sílvia Abril (Our Father, Our President, Alimañas), Lorena López (Goat Girl, La casa), Amparo Fernández and César Tormo.

The film tells the story of Mihaela, a Romanian cleaner nearing retirement, who discovers the body of a civil servant while cleaning the toilets at the regional ministry where she works. Although the police treat the death as an accident, Mihaela – an avid reader of crime novels – suspects otherwise and decides to investigate the case herself. She is joined by a young and eccentric intern, and together this unlikely Holmes-and-Watson duo delve into the mysteries of the civil service.

According to the director, “I really wanted to take on a detective film, and this project has given me the opportunity to do so through comedy and irony – a genre in which I feel particularly at home. I’m interested in approaching comedy through truth, following characters who are often left out of the frame: older women, migrants, unsung workers, precarious interns…; seemingly secondary figures who, in reality, understand very well how the world works. Mihaela, the protagonist, embodies many of the characteristics that can render a person invisible: she is a cleaner, an immigrant, a woman and of an older age; identities that are under-represented in cinema and, all too often, marginalised in real life as well.”

“I’m also excited by the visual world we’re creating: transforming the bureaucratic space of a regional ministry into a unique setting, somewhere between the everyday and the peculiar, giving it a somewhat retro-futuristic feel. Ultimately, La dona invisible is about learning to see more clearly; about discovering that invisible people aren’t invisible because they aren’t valid, but because the rest of us have decided not to see them,” she continues.

Cristina Fernández Pintado has long combined her career as an actress and choreographer with directing and writing. In 2020, she wrote the screenplay for and co‑directed her first feature, Things to Do Before You Die, alongside Miguel Llorens, and this spring she released Cowgirl, her second film as a director, also alongside Llorens.

La dona invisible is produced by Atresmedia Cine, The Fly Hunter, La Terraza Films and Sucedió en Valverde AIE, with the participation of Atresmedia and À Punt, as well as support from the IVC and funding from the ICAA. Vercine will handle distribution in Spain, Film Factory Entertainment will manage international sales.