Official competition

Las novias del sur (Southern Brides)

Elena López Riera

Mature women speak about their marriage, their first time, their intimate relationship with sexuality. In the repetition of these ancestral rituals, the director questions her own absence of marriage, of children, and thereby, a chain of mother-daughter relationships that is extinguishing.

«Southern Brides has been in my head for years. I have always been fascinated by everything related to the ritual of marriage, the traditional narrative of eternal heterosexual love, the surrender, and how all of this is staged. Above all, the image of the bride: a woman dressed in white, presumed to be a virgin, and who is going to give herself to a man.»

– Elena López Riera

Information

Country

Spain

Year

2024

Length

40'

Category

Documentary

Origin of archival materials

Family archives of: Adrian Sancho, Alba Crespo, Alejandro Marín, Alexia Corrales, Alio Medina, Amparo Cerveró, Àngels Simarro, Andrés Alonso, Antonio López, Bea Cabrera, Beatriz Fénez, Celia Castro, Claudia Robert, David Bustos, Eduardo Cuevas, Elena Lafuente, Eloísa Suárez, Enrique Piñuel, Enrique Simarro, Esperanza Riera, Marcelo López, Estefanía Borrego, Ester Borràs, Estrella Poza, Familia García-Rabasco, Fanny González, Feli Ramon, Fina Almaida, Francisco Molinero, Francisco Simarro, Gregoria Gómez, Jaime Simarro, Jaime Tortosa, Jana Jubert, José F. Cámara, Juan Barreda, Juan Manuel Jiménez, Kote García (Bereberecho Productions), Laura Feliu, Laura M. Santamarina, Laura Oviedo

Screenplay

Elena López Riera

Cinematography

Elena López Riera, Alba Cros, Agnès Piqué

Editing

Arianda Ribas, Ana Pfaff

Sound

Alejandro Castillo

Production

Rafa Molés, Pepe Andreu, Eugenia Mumenthaler, David Epiney

Distribution

Marvin&Wayne

Director’s biography

Her first short, PUEBLO, was premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes; LAS VÍSCERAS at the Locarno Festival; and LOS QUE DESEAN won numerous awards such as the Pardino d’Oro for Best Short Film in Locarno.

EL AGUA, her first feature film, had its world premiere at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes in 2022. It was selected for Toronto TIFF or San Sebastian Film Festival. It received two nominations for the Goya Awards, including Best New Director, and for the Quartz Swiss Film Awards.

On the agenda