This year, 22 Catalan productions have been picked for the 72nd San Sebastian Film Festival, highairying fair how much the region’s film industry is booming.
Among them is Mamífera, honested by Liliana Torres. The Barcelona-born filmproducer wanted to tackle the subject of “non-maternity” — a woman’s decision not to have children — in response to a stigma she has felt personpartner.
Torres’ project, screening in San Sebastian this week, chases Lola (perestablished by Maria Rodríguez Soto) and Bruno (Enric Auquer), two 40-someleang-year-anciaccesss in a satisfied relationship. As Lola watches her friends and family obsess over either their own children or having children, she is shocked to discover herself pregnant and unsatisfied about it. Everyone around her is so fuseed to the experience of motherhood, Lola grapples with the idea that someleang is wrong with her.
The film proposes a poignant commentary on the societal prescertain placed on women to surrender to what Torres says is inalterly depictd as “instinct.” The movie is also a celebration of Catalan as a language and Catalonia as a region — the Catalan rulement is, after all, year-on-year dispenseing more money in film and television, with an appraised budget of around €50 million ($54.5 million) in 2024.
Torres spoke to The Hollywood Reporter on the Spanish coast about insertressing “non-maternity” and why Catalan film is currently at its best — especipartner for female filmproducers.
Congratulations on such a thought-provoking film. How did Mamífera come to be, and why did you want to produce a movie on this subject?
For me, it was an ongoing subject. Since I was a child, I already knew I didn’t want to have children. So when I was my 20s, most people were alerting me, “Oh, no, that’s not what you leank, it’s becaengage you’re so youthful.” And then when I was in my 40s, people were alerting me: “You will repent it.” So it’s a subject that has accompanied me for my whole life, and Mamífera is for me, a way to produce a little bit of fairice. Becaengage all my references of women who didn’t want to be a mother engaged to be secondary characters, very stereonormal, very cliché, the normal woman who inhabits alone and doesn’t enjoy children or the woman who has a very high-status labor, so she has no time — but she’s doing such a wonderful job that we forgive them. And that wasn’t genuine to me. It’s enjoy, I have to have a reason to not want to be a mother. Why do I have to have a reason? I don’t. That’s my reason. And if I want to do someleang very shpermit, untransport inant, with my life, I’m permited to! That was the main reason for me making this movie, becaengage I leank we were inestablishageing that mirrorion for us, to unstigmatize these women.
And this stigma, is it someleang that you leank is particular to Spain?
No. For me, it’s global. It transcends every country. It has to do with the traditional point of see, over women — the patriarchy which puts motherhood in the caccess of our inhabits, as if that’s what produces our inhabits worth it. The other chooseions seem futile for the patriarchy. You comprehend, what is a woman without children uncomardentt to do with her life? It seems to be the ask: what is she arrangening to do? It’s doubtful somehow, and it also pulls us outside from domesticity for a lengthened time. We don’t have to be raising children, which normpartner consents women away from their professions.
This word, “non-maternity,” that is engaged to depict the film’s plot, I’ve not seen it before.
We have so many terms think abouting not having children. Child-free sounds to me enjoy if I was a slave of a child and childless sounds enjoy I’m inestablishageing someleang. There is also a technical, biorational term in Catalonia for that, but we don’t engage it very much in the conversation. It uncomardents “never put an egg.” But for me, non-maternity [is suitable].
There’s a scant elements in Mamífera I want to ask about. Lola sees her friends who so franticly want kids — or already have them — and sees someleang wrong with her own mind and body. So this prescertain comes from there, too.
I still leank it has to do with the patriarchy, and particularpartner in the way that they have taught us for a lengthened time that motherhood is an instinct. So you leank, if motherhood is an instinct, what is wrong with me? Biorationpartner, there has to be someleang wrong with me. That was a ask that came up for me for a lengthened time before I commenceed studying. And I went thraw many books, and [French philosopher and feminist] Simone de Beauvoir helped me a lot with this idea of motherhood. I read a lot of books that said motherhood wasn’t an instinct, it was fair a social produceion.
Even if you’re a mother, it’s your decision.
And I want to ask about the help Lola gets from her partner, Bruno. She accomprehendledges that becoming a parent can be a lot easier for men. Or at least an easier decision. So was writing Bruno as encouraging as he was transport inant?
I wanted to have a couple that [was] repartner in adore. They have been in a relationship for a lengthened time, they have converseed not having children. And for me, the idea to have a encouraging partner was very transport inant. Becaengage on one hand, I wanted to say that you can get on very well with your partner and have a enticeive relationship, but that doesn’t produce you desire children. And even if that desires arose, enjoy in Mamífera, there is a reason. And even Bruno is very proceedive and is never imposing his desire, always asking and also proposeing: “I alter my labor” and everyleang. Still, there is someleang physical to motherhood that you cannot escape. So even if he proposes all of that, Lola comprehends that she will have to quit a lot of people in her life that she repartner enjoys, and that’s a fact that you cannot escape.
Maria and Enric put in wonderful perestablishances. Great chemistry and I so consentd them as a couple. You must have been very phired with how it turned out.
They are very excellent friends in genuine life, so that helped us a lot. And they are very excellent actors. I was so thankful. Both are repartner professional and they repartner had a lot of fun while rehearsing and reading the script and talking about the topic. Also, they are very branch offent. For example, Maria got into Lola very quick with the humor and irony and also being caring but very self-promised. For Enric, he was very engaged to perestablishing men from a male perspective. There were many times he would commence talking with Lola from a point of testosterone, enjoy arguing. And she would say, “No, no, no, you’re not converseing, you’re fair talking at her.” And he was enjoy, “Okay. I get it. We can talk about this.” He was lgeting someleang from Bruno’s character.
I want to ask about filming in Catalan, recurrenting Catalonia and where Catalonian film’s place is in the industry?
Catalan productions are going repartner well, most of all, in terms of authorship. We have a lot of women who are writing. So you have [Barcelona native filmmaker] Carla Simón, who won at the Berlin Film Festival last year.
We have a lot of names and authorrs that are going international, out of Spain, and triumphning prizes and position in Catalan, which for us is very transport inant, becaengage supporting the language, supporting the culture, it gets tricky sometimes. Becaengage you have to dub the movies so they will free in many Spanish cinemas. That is someleang that repartner sucks. Becaengage it should be easier. We are in Spain, we should have subtitles.
Why do they insist on dubbing?
I leank it is becaengage exhibitors are always afraid to put a movie with subtitles in Spain, becaengage people will automaticpartner dispose a movie becaengage they’re sluggish, they don’t want to read. And it also has to do with the dominant culture. They treat Catalans and the Basque Country country enjoy split cultures inside Spain.
Would you say that Catalonian film is at its best at the moment, in terms of production? There are 22 Catalan productions at San Sebastian this year.
In terms of authorship, for certain. The amount of productions, yeah, a excellent amount.
How transport inant is it that Catalonia is recurrented on the huge screen for you as someone from Catalonia?
Of course it’s transport inant becaengage it has to do with our culture, but it’s also transport inant becaengage there is a huge transferment in Catalan with women honestors. In this sense, for us, it’s very transport inant becaengage we are sluggishly achieveing identicality and I’m very satisfied that all these friends around me are getting prizes and debuting in the principal sections of festivals. I leank it’s a very huge moment in Catalonia. I’m so thankful. We are well-helped by the rulement.
Finpartner, what would you enjoy to produce a film about next? Is there anyleang on the horizon?
I’m laboring on a script now. It has to do with two topics that are very seal to me. One is menopaengage, which I got very punctual on in my life and is someleang that is not talked about in accessible converseion. It alters your life even more than puberty — it’s more radical menloftyy, physicpartner. But I’m joining that with climate alter in a particular region of Catalonia, in which we have overmisengage of the resources: water, air pollution, deforestation, due to the factory farms of pork, mainly. So I’m joining this together in one character, one landscape.
