“The film talks about feminism from fanaticism and an ideology that I share”

2024 has been – still is – a great year for Spanish cinema. Countless premieres have captured both the public’s attention and critical acclaim, with a diversity of themes ranging from intimate and personal stories to stories full of intrigue, social drama or comedy. Also, with stories from the past that still resonate (and more, if possible) in the present in which we live. Proof of this is ‘The red virgin‘ (Paula Ortiz, 2024), the film that has a total of 9 nominations for the 2025 Goya Awards. The shocking true story of ‘The Red Virgin’ inspires the film starring Najwa Nimri and Alba Planas in the roles of mother and daughter, along with a cast that includes actors of the caliber of Pepe Viyuela, Aixa Villagrán – nominated for the Goya for Best Supporting Actress – and Patrick Criado.

“The story of Hildegart Rodríguez (1914-1933) is one of those true stories in which reality surpasses imagination. Paula Ortiz achieves with it a well-rounded film, the best, so far, of her filmography,” highlighted our review of ‘The Red Virgin’. The film tells the story of the famous child prodigy from Spain in the 1930s who went down in history for her advanced feminism, her combative political activism and, unfortunately, for her mother’s delirium. Known by the nickname ‘The Red Virgin’ for her youth and political leanings, the young woman would soon develop outstanding genius until she turned 19, an age at which her life took an unexpected direction. To put the finishing touch to a year of cinema, The Ateneo de Madrid hosted the screening of ‘The Red Virgin’ followed by a discussion with its director, Paula Ortiz – nominated for the Goya for Best Director –, and Pepe Viyuela, one of its protagonists, moderated by Julieta Martialay, director of the magazine FOTOGRAMAS. The place, one of the most emblematic of the Spanish intellectual universe since the 19th century, has a strong connection with Hildegart Rodríguez, who was the 14,689th member of the institution, giving great speeches there and establishing debates with personalities of her time such as Ramón and Cajal, Gregorio Marañón and José Ortega y Gasset.

The luxury of debate

“Present this film at the Ateneo It is very special because, precisely, here we filmed some of the most important scenes. One of them, in this same room where the film was shown. It was also an important place in Hildegart’s history,” highlighted Paula Ortiz. The filmmaker, “one of the most personal and recognizable in Spanish cinema in recent years,” in the words of Julieta Martialay, “has always brought stories to the screen. of people of the female sex, daughters of a turbulent era who fight to free themselves from different prisons. He did so by adapting Hemingway in ‘On the other side of the river and among the trees’ (2022), Lorca in ‘The Bride’ (2015), dissecting the figure of Saint Teresa of Jesus in ‘Teresa’ (2023). and now he does the same with “this two-headed monster” – in his own words – that was Hildegart Rodríguez and his mother, Aurora.

Aurora and Hildegart are not the only important female characters. Macarena, played by Aixa Villagránis the employee of the home inhabited by both of them. A strong woman, “from a social sector to which almost all of us belonged and belong,” highlights Ortiz. “Macarena has been my entire family, and almost everyone’s. Sometimes you have to draw attention to the fact that all those theoretical debates and political approaches are held by those who can. And that is a crack that could not be left out of the film. Macarena It was so important because it is effectiveness in the world, it is the earth, reality. We do not do what we want, we do what we can also, socially, we continue to experience today. The filmmaker also shared a curiosity that has to do with the book that Macarena reads during the film. “We had to request the rights to a serial or romantic novel so, to avoid complications, I wrote the excerpts that the character reads out loud myself,” laughs Ortiz.

A father figure

an unrecognizable Pepe Viyuelain an unusual dramatic register for him, plays the character of Eduardo de Guzmán, editor-in-chief of the newspaper that published some of Hildegart’s first works on female sexuality in the 1930s. “Almost everything we know about them [de Hildegart y Aurora] “It is because of him, because of what he wrote about them.” These documents are added to a meticulous research work that also brings together photographic archives, all of Hildegart’s own writings and, of course, the statements of Doña Aurora during the trial for the murder of his daughter. “I invite you to look him up on the Internet because you won’t believe what he says,” adds Ortiz. “In fact, the opening monologue and the ending are literally taken from those statements.”

“Eduardo de Guzmán,” explains Viyuela, “was actually younger than the character I played. Paula upped his age until he became a kind of father figure or a welcoming and defending figure. I think in some way he subliminally represents that father Hildegart always asks about.” The actor came to the project almost predestined, like Ortiz, who discovered this true story when she was a university student and after several years wanting to adapt it to the big screen, she received a call from her production company, Maria Zamorato propose this project. “Carlos Álvarez-Nóvoa [autor y actor que ya había colaborado con Paula Ortiz en ‘La novia’] “He was a very good friend of my wife,” says Viyuela. “Curiously, it was as if he wanted to leave me a legacy in his will or give me a gift. Before he died, he had told Paula: “Hey, you have to meet Pepe and it would be great if you worked together.” I don’t really know why, but it has been one of the greatest gifts I have ever been given. That’s how I got to Paula.”

Challenges and emotions

One of the biggest challenges of this production has been the script, signed by Clara Roquet (‘Freedom’) and Eduard Sola (‘The Body on Fire’). “We have worked a lot on it because it was very difficult to talk about big issues, small issues and quiet issues,” highlights the director. “You want to talk about the collective and the individual, about feminism from fanaticism and from an ideological artifact that I share. It is very difficult to maintain all those balances and also all the contradictions that belong to this story. And all of this, with several genres, of course. The political thrillerromantic drama, horror elements [acentuados por la música de Guille Galván, Juanma Latorre y María Arnal, nominada al Goya] that have to do with the character of the mother, and all of this is also a film that recreates a specific era: that of the Second Republic in Madrid.

One of the most exciting scenes in the film is when Hildegart enters the assembly. “That, suddenly, a young girl arrives at a meeting of older men who are talking about very important things but not about what she knows, about half the world [la población femenina]has something super important for me,” highlights Ortiz. “This place, the Ateneo, is a center of debate, criticism and knowledge. That is the basis of democracy, of what we are as a society. Seeing such a young woman come in here, for me It is one of the absolutely neuralgic questions of feminism, because we are facing a society that – apart from all the patriarchal issues of the moment – ​​throws women out of the center of knowledge because they unleash evil. I am amazed and fascinated by women who challenge that.” For all this, and much more, ‘The Red Virgin’ It is one of the 30 best Spanish films of 2024 that you must see.