Las Niñas is a film in this year’s Generation program with a strong young female protagonist first becoming aware of the world’s inequalities between boys and girls and its injustices. It is set in the 90s in Spain. I was lucky enough to get in tough with the films director Pilar Palomero and ask her a few questions:
freie Generation Reporter: Can you tell me a bit about the background of the film?
Pilar Palomero: The film is not autobiographical, but a lot of my childhood experiences have flown into Las Niñas. A few years ago, when I was thinking about making a film about my education, I found my notebook from my religion class in grade 6. I read an essay, which is exactly the one that appears in the film, where the nun explains the girls sexuality. At the first moment I laughed at the thought of what kind of education we got but then I started to realise how contradictory it was. It was 1992 and they were talking to us about sexuality, chastity and only having sex in the marriage while life outside of school was totally different. However, not only in school they were very conservative, also society in general was.
Apart from all this, one of the major intentions behind this film is to show how it is to grow up and become a teenager and doing this in a very emotional way by being very close to Celia. I wanted the audience to relive how it is to grow up.
Apart from the film displaying parts of your youth where there any other reasons why you set the film in the 90s?
The film is set in the 90s as I was the same age as Celia back in 92. I wanted to show the early contradictory world that appears in the film. When I started thinking about the film I was also thinking a lot about education. I asked my parents: „Why did you take me to this school?“ Because sometimes I had a hard time there. They answered: „Because we thought it was the best school for you. We thought it was the best place for you to get educated.“
Obviously it wasn’t good but it already was much better than the conservative schools they went to. That is what I wanted to tell in the film: That we are the consequence of the education our parents received. So, their education will influence our kids and the next generations.
I also wanted to touch that sometimes these constitutions are treating kids in a childish way: not telling them the truth, not explaining them the things as they are. I wanted to show that kids are empathic, they understand. We shouldn’t treat them in this childish way. We need to make them more independent, free and intelligent.
Apart from all those things I remembered a condoms campaign from the 90s that also appears in the film. This campaign had a lot of impact, but was forbidden a few years later because many parents had complained about it since they thought it would drive young people into having more sexual relationships. At this point a huge part of the society saw sex as a sinful thing and as something to keep away from the young people. And I think we still feel the consequence of this. Spain was and is very conservative and I am afraid we are repeating these patterns. I hope we are not, that is why I finish this film with the a positive feeling, but I think, nevertheless, that we have to be aware.
Recently there have been a lot of troubling reports about the film industry and especially the inequalities between men and women there. Can you tell me what the Spanish film industry is like? And in that regard: What difference does it make that you are a female director?
I don’t think that there are major differences between men and women, it rather is the education we received, so that some people have a higher sensibility because of their cultural background.
However, it was great that there were that many women in the film because in Spain there is still a huge gender gap in the film industry with much more men than women. Things are changing, but there is still a huge difference.
So, it seems like there is a tendency for change, which makes me a little optimistic but we are still very far from the normal condition that would be half and half since we (women) are half of the population. I think it is both a matter of the number of female film professionals and also the topics of films. Often films made by women are labeled as automatically being films for women. We have to fight for films by female directors not being seen as only for women but for everyone. I have been talking to other female directors in Spain and we agree that we want to make films that reach everyone, because we are all human beings and we are all the same.
You use a lot of close-ups and distinct lightening and colours. Can you tell me a bit about your stylistic decisions?
One of the things I had in mind was that I wanted to make a difference between the school or the house or whenever the girls are outside the school, when Celia is with her friends. I wanted the young actresses to be very free and to feel as if no camera was there. So we made the decision to use a handheld camera. We were there for the girls, and not they for the camera. All the crew members were trained to make the shooting easy for the girls, so that they could be free and themselves.
We put a lot of effort into making the camera feel the way Celia does. So, whenever Celia is happy and discovering the world, the camera moves more. Whenever we are in other places, or when Celia is feeling sad or oppressed the camera is also working in this way.
I made the decision with the 3:4 format in order to achieve a nostalgic 90s feeling. We thought this would be a good way to put the viewers in this time. It also allowed us to be very close to the character, to Celia, to see and feel her eyes, her expressions and her reactions.
You show how unfair girls were treated openly, but also subliminally. E.g. in the TV shows shown in the background with their narrow-minded view on women, or the quizzes in the magazines, which are all about pleasing men. Which aspects were important to you?
For me it was very important to show the role of women in this moment of time. We have the heritage of the catholic tradition in Spain where women were asked to be virgins, saints, always the pleasant mother and pleasant housewife. That is how it was still taught in school, sometimes even in families, how it was generally viewed in the society.
On the other hand we had these magazines and TV shows where women were hyper-sexualised and we were seeing it as something normal. We were used to these shows where women were totally shown as ornaments and decorating elements. This made it were hard for us women to get real references. At the same time it was also the moment when our mothers, that were housewives, started telling us: Go studying, have a career, be independent!
So, we had these three messages at the same time: Be independent, have your career and study but at the same be a good mother, virgin and saint while the television showed women as hyper-sexualised. That’s schizophrenic. That is also why Celia is so confused. It is part of the plot that there are strong prejudices against the mother because she is raising Celia alone. She is not even strong enough to tell Celia the truth about this. This is because at that time it was still hard to be a single mother. It was not normal. Sometimes we forget that these things still happened in 1992. It seems far away but at the same time it isn’t. That is something we should not forget.
A big factor in Las Niñas obviously is religion. You touched upon it already but can you please tell us about your view on religion?
I was raised in a catholic school of nuns as my parents were. Due to Franco’s dictatorship the official religion of the country was Catholicism. Hence, we still have a huge catholic tradition. This was also the way I was educated. Obviously, more loosely than it used to be, but still catholic enough. I made my first communion, I was baptised.
However, I really tried to make the film in a respectful way. I tried to show that some were educated while others weren’t. At the same time I didn’t want to make a film against religion or against this school. For me it is also important to respect the freedom of faith. So, I din’t want to make a film against religion but rather show that we really have to reflect about the messages we are presenting to our children.
How did you manage to capture this beautiful relationship between mother and daughter? What were your inspirations? How did you tackle this?
The relationship between Celia and mother during the shooting was very special. First of all Natalia de Molina playing the mother and Andrea Fandos playing Celia are both amazing actresses and they really felt the story. We didn’t give Andrea the script, neither to the other girls as we made the decision to have them improvise. Natalia, however, knew the script. Sometimes Andrea didn’t know what exactly was going to happen, so this way we captured her true reactions. Andrea is very similar to Celia, her character.
It was also beautiful to see how generous the two actresses were with each other. They supported each other a lot in each scene. For example, Natalia always gave Andrea a lot of advice so that she could be in the state of mind for this film. I think the same happened the other way around. They loved each other and suffered when they had to fight in the film as they didn’t want to hurt each other. It was beautiful to see their relationship and I think you can feel this deep appreciation for each other in the film.
What reaction are you hoping for from your (Spanish) audiences? What do you think the reaction will be like?
I still don’t know what the reaction in Spain will be. The main point for me in this film is to make people remember how it is like to grow up, to stop being a child and discovering the bad parts of life. When you are a child you are more protected. However, I also wanted to show the good things! You make new friends, listen to music together, discover new things and experience them for the first time. I wanted to give the audience the opportunity to remember all this through the film.
It would also be great if they reflected about their own education. To remember how they were educated and whether it was good or bad. I want them to question how they are educating their own kids and how our society is educating them.
Moreover, I want the audience to feel the film. To feel what Celia is feeling, to understand her and make this learning process with her. To join in in her joy, her doubts and fears.
© Jorge Fuembuena
freie Generation Reporter: Can you tell me a bit about the background of the film?
Pilar Palomero: The film is not autobiographical, but a lot of my childhood experiences have flown into Las Niñas. A few years ago, when I was thinking about making a film about my education, I found my notebook from my religion class in grade 6. I read an essay, which is exactly the one that appears in the film, where the nun explains the girls sexuality. At the first moment I laughed at the thought of what kind of education we got but then I started to realise how contradictory it was. It was 1992 and they were talking to us about sexuality, chastity and only having sex in the marriage while life outside of school was totally different. However, not only in school they were very conservative, also society in general was.
Apart from all this, one of the major intentions behind this film is to show how it is to grow up and become a teenager and doing this in a very emotional way by being very close to Celia. I wanted the audience to relive how it is to grow up.
Apart from the film displaying parts of your youth where there any other reasons why you set the film in the 90s?
The film is set in the 90s as I was the same age as Celia back in 92. I wanted to show the early contradictory world that appears in the film. When I started thinking about the film I was also thinking a lot about education. I asked my parents: „Why did you take me to this school?“ Because sometimes I had a hard time there. They answered: „Because we thought it was the best school for you. We thought it was the best place for you to get educated.“
Obviously it wasn’t good but it already was much better than the conservative schools they went to. That is what I wanted to tell in the film: That we are the consequence of the education our parents received. So, their education will influence our kids and the next generations.
I also wanted to touch that sometimes these constitutions are treating kids in a childish way: not telling them the truth, not explaining them the things as they are. I wanted to show that kids are empathic, they understand. We shouldn’t treat them in this childish way. We need to make them more independent, free and intelligent.
Apart from all those things I remembered a condoms campaign from the 90s that also appears in the film. This campaign had a lot of impact, but was forbidden a few years later because many parents had complained about it since they thought it would drive young people into having more sexual relationships. At this point a huge part of the society saw sex as a sinful thing and as something to keep away from the young people. And I think we still feel the consequence of this. Spain was and is very conservative and I am afraid we are repeating these patterns. I hope we are not, that is why I finish this film with the a positive feeling, but I think, nevertheless, that we have to be aware.
Recently there have been a lot of troubling reports about the film industry and especially the inequalities between men and women there. Can you tell me what the Spanish film industry is like? And in that regard: What difference does it make that you are a female director?
I don’t think that there are major differences between men and women, it rather is the education we received, so that some people have a higher sensibility because of their cultural background.
However, it was great that there were that many women in the film because in Spain there is still a huge gender gap in the film industry with much more men than women. Things are changing, but there is still a huge difference.
So, it seems like there is a tendency for change, which makes me a little optimistic but we are still very far from the normal condition that would be half and half since we (women) are half of the population. I think it is both a matter of the number of female film professionals and also the topics of films. Often films made by women are labeled as automatically being films for women. We have to fight for films by female directors not being seen as only for women but for everyone. I have been talking to other female directors in Spain and we agree that we want to make films that reach everyone, because we are all human beings and we are all the same.
You use a lot of close-ups and distinct lightening and colours. Can you tell me a bit about your stylistic decisions?
One of the things I had in mind was that I wanted to make a difference between the school or the house or whenever the girls are outside the school, when Celia is with her friends. I wanted the young actresses to be very free and to feel as if no camera was there. So we made the decision to use a handheld camera. We were there for the girls, and not they for the camera. All the crew members were trained to make the shooting easy for the girls, so that they could be free and themselves.
We put a lot of effort into making the camera feel the way Celia does. So, whenever Celia is happy and discovering the world, the camera moves more. Whenever we are in other places, or when Celia is feeling sad or oppressed the camera is also working in this way.
I made the decision with the 3:4 format in order to achieve a nostalgic 90s feeling. We thought this would be a good way to put the viewers in this time. It also allowed us to be very close to the character, to Celia, to see and feel her eyes, her expressions and her reactions.
You show how unfair girls were treated openly, but also subliminally. E.g. in the TV shows shown in the background with their narrow-minded view on women, or the quizzes in the magazines, which are all about pleasing men. Which aspects were important to you?
For me it was very important to show the role of women in this moment of time. We have the heritage of the catholic tradition in Spain where women were asked to be virgins, saints, always the pleasant mother and pleasant housewife. That is how it was still taught in school, sometimes even in families, how it was generally viewed in the society.
On the other hand we had these magazines and TV shows where women were hyper-sexualised and we were seeing it as something normal. We were used to these shows where women were totally shown as ornaments and decorating elements. This made it were hard for us women to get real references. At the same time it was also the moment when our mothers, that were housewives, started telling us: Go studying, have a career, be independent!
So, we had these three messages at the same time: Be independent, have your career and study but at the same be a good mother, virgin and saint while the television showed women as hyper-sexualised. That’s schizophrenic. That is also why Celia is so confused. It is part of the plot that there are strong prejudices against the mother because she is raising Celia alone. She is not even strong enough to tell Celia the truth about this. This is because at that time it was still hard to be a single mother. It was not normal. Sometimes we forget that these things still happened in 1992. It seems far away but at the same time it isn’t. That is something we should not forget.
A big factor in Las Niñas obviously is religion. You touched upon it already but can you please tell us about your view on religion?
I was raised in a catholic school of nuns as my parents were. Due to Franco’s dictatorship the official religion of the country was Catholicism. Hence, we still have a huge catholic tradition. This was also the way I was educated. Obviously, more loosely than it used to be, but still catholic enough. I made my first communion, I was baptised.
However, I really tried to make the film in a respectful way. I tried to show that some were educated while others weren’t. At the same time I didn’t want to make a film against religion or against this school. For me it is also important to respect the freedom of faith. So, I din’t want to make a film against religion but rather show that we really have to reflect about the messages we are presenting to our children.
How did you manage to capture this beautiful relationship between mother and daughter? What were your inspirations? How did you tackle this?
It was also beautiful to see how generous the two actresses were with each other. They supported each other a lot in each scene. For example, Natalia always gave Andrea a lot of advice so that she could be in the state of mind for this film. I think the same happened the other way around. They loved each other and suffered when they had to fight in the film as they didn’t want to hurt each other. It was beautiful to see their relationship and I think you can feel this deep appreciation for each other in the film.
What reaction are you hoping for from your (Spanish) audiences? What do you think the reaction will be like?
I still don’t know what the reaction in Spain will be. The main point for me in this film is to make people remember how it is like to grow up, to stop being a child and discovering the bad parts of life. When you are a child you are more protected. However, I also wanted to show the good things! You make new friends, listen to music together, discover new things and experience them for the first time. I wanted to give the audience the opportunity to remember all this through the film.
It would also be great if they reflected about their own education. To remember how they were educated and whether it was good or bad. I want them to question how they are educating their own kids and how our society is educating them.
Moreover, I want the audience to feel the film. To feel what Celia is feeling, to understand her and make this learning process with her. To join in in her joy, her doubts and fears.
© Jorge Fuembuena
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