Isabel Coixet will compete for Os d’Or at the Berlinale with ‘Elisa and Marcela’.
Isabel Coixet’s ‘Elisa y Marcela’ film will participate in the official section of the Berlin Film Festival competition, the Berlinale, which will take place from February 7th to 17th. Netflix’s film, shot in black and white between Catalonia and Galicia, tells the story of the first two women who married, in 1901 in Dumbría. The protagonists are two Galician masters, interpreted by Natalia Molina and Greta Fernández, and her marriage filled the covers of newspapers around the world. Coixet has celebrated the incorporation of the film into the Berlinale and said that it is the “culmination” of a work of many years.
The story of ‘Elisa and Marcela’ is located in 1885, when the protagonists meet at a school of Galician teachers. Among them two establish a great friendship that will become a loving relationship that will survive hidden. The couple will have to overcome obstacles in the environment, such as the parents of Marcela, who send them abroad a few years when they suspect their relationship. The plot is inspired by a real story that collected the newspapers of the time. However, according to Coixet, the press attributed to the marriage all kinds of witchcraft and violence, “an accumulation of calumnies” that the director did not believe and, therefore, has not included in the film.
For the filmmaker, participating in the festival is “a reward” for the effort and perseverance “to push a project” like “Elisa and Marcela”, as well as “the opportunity for the international public to know a unique history in the world “. The film is produced by Rodar y Rodar, Zenit TV, Lanube Films and TV3 with the Film Factory association.
(ara.cat 10/01/2019)
Albert Roca +34 620 74 34 12 | Txell Noè +34 657 08 39 50
