Indie Spanish film studio Filmax has picked up international sales rights to “Alumbramiento” (‘Birth’), the sophomore feature by Pau Teixidor (“Purgatorio”), set up at Aquí y Allí Films, the production house run by Pedro Hernández Santos  and behind “Something is About to Happen,” and “Life and Nothing More.” 

Co-written by Teixidor and Lorena Iglesias (“Towards Bruce Lee’s Tomb”), and inspired by real events, the feature narrates the moving story of Lucia, a teenager sent to a centre for young, pregnant girls in Spain, in 1982.

In her feature length debut, Spanish actress Sofía Milán (“Love in Difficult Times”) plays Lucía, who’s been taken to Madrid by her mother  Marisa (actress María Vázquez, of “Matria”) to find a solution for an unwanted pregnancy.

Lucía ends up in Peñagrande, a reformatory for teen mothers-to-be where she will forge strong friendships with the other girls and discover the awful truth that her not yet born child is to be taken away from her.

“Birth” was built on a long process of documentation and interviews with over 50 people involved in the events.  

“When I sat down to interview these women who had suffered such unbearable pain, I noticed a common denominator in their experiences: They all felt forgotten. For this reason, and despite being a vivid story for the public at large, ‘Birth’ is still, in essence, a film about memory,” Teixidor said.

The project teams Madrid-based production outfit Aquí y Allí Films with Barcelona’s Minoría Absoluta (“The Teacher Who Promised the Sea”) and Romania’s  Avanpost (“Quo Vadis, Aida?”). It has been financed by Spain’s Institute of Cinematography & Audiovisual Arts and ICO, the country’s state-owned Official Credit Institute, public broadcaster RTVE, the Madrid City Council and bank guarantee scheme Crea SGR. 

“’Birth’ is an extremely current film, despite being set in the Spain of 1982,” Aquí y Allí producer Hernández Santos argued. 

“Thanks to its director, Pau Teixidor, and the hard work and sensitivity of the whole cast and crew, we have been able to tell this not-so-well-known story in an honest and human way.”

He added: “While we are aware that this film cannot bring justice to all the women involved, we do believe it to be a way to show that we care about their story. Our aim in telling this tale is simply for it to reach a wider audience.” 

“Despite the tough context of the film, in which babies are literally stolen from their mothers, ‘Birth’ is in fact an invitation to life. While reminding us of these shameful events in recent Spanish history, events that we haven’t addressed properly as a society, the strength of the female characters and their struggle to move forwards shine throughout the movie,” said Iván Díaz, Filmax head of International.

“Birth” was developed by Teixidó during the first edition of the Spanish Film Academy’s Residencies. Buyers will be able to see a first promo of the film at this week’s Spanish Screenings event in Málaga.

By Variety - See full article here

BIRTH