A great lady of Spanish cinema, Icíar Bollaín acted in Ken Loach's Land and Freedom in 1995. (The film was written by Paul Laverty, who has shared her life ever since, and will accompany her to Lyon). Her work as a filmmaker is characterised by a commitment to major issues such as domestic violence (the exceptional Take my Eyes), the Basque question (Maixabel) or the water war in Bolivia (Even the Rain). Her most recent film, I am Nevenka, on the subject of the fight against sexual harassment, is set to premiere at this year’s Lumière.
Director, screenwriter and actress Icíar Bollaín began her career in front of the camera of Victor Erice, playing the lead role in El Sul at the age of 15.
In the early 1990s, after founding her own production company, Producciones La Iguana, she embarked on a career as a filmmaker and continued working as an actress, most notably in Ken Loach’s Land and Freedom. The experience inspired her to publish a book and also led her to Paul Laverty, who would become her husband and the co-writer of her films.
Since her foray into directing, Icíar Bollaín has done her utmost to insist on socially conscious cinema, featuring strong themes complemented by a mise-en-scène that combines delicacy and power: violence against women, inequality, sexism or injustice.
A woman of dedication, she is also involved in NGOs such as SOS Children's Villages and continues her trajectory of fiction films, interspersed by documentary shorts.
A great voice of Spanish cinema, deeply rooted in her country's contemporary history, Icíar Bollaín bestows upon us the privilege, and the pleasure, of being one of our guests of honour at Lumière 2024. Here is her programme for Lyon!
Master class
Meet with Icíar Bollaín
Wednesday, October 16 at 10:45am at Pathé Bellecour
With the support of
Take my Eyes by Icíar Bollaín (Te doy mis ojos, 2003, 1h43)
Pilar escapes. Her husband, Antonio, runs after her and promises to change, to stop being violent. He agrees to undergo therapy... A powerful and realistic portrait of a woman in the grip of her partner.
Institut Lumière (Hangar) Tue 15 5:15pm | Pathé Bellecour Wed 16 7pm | Pathé Bellecour Sat 19 10pm
Even the Rain by Icíar Bollaín (También la lluvia, 2010, 1h44)
A director and his producer are in Bolivia to shoot a film, but revolts break out over a project to privatise the country's water supply... By overlapping two narratives, Bollaín asks how cinema and commitment can come together.
UGC Astoria Tue 15 8pm
Maixabel by Icíar Bollaín (2021, 1h55)
The widow of a politician killed by the terrorist group ETA is contacted eleven years later by one of the perpetrators of the crime, serving his sentence in prison... A touching drama based on a true story. Blanca Portillo garnered the Goya for Best Actress.
UGC Confluence Tue 15 11:15am | Lumière Terreaux Wed 16 4:30pm
I am Nevenka by Icíar Bollaín (Soy Nevenka, 2024, 1h50)
Nevenka Fernández débuts in politics at the side of the charismatic mayor of Ponferrada. But the latter wastes no time and begins to harass her... A true story that opens up the debate on male chauvinist violence that occurs within circles of power, and how daunting it is to oppose it...
Comœdia Mon 14 7:15pm
Land and Freedom by Ken Loach (1995, 1h49)
David, a young Englishman, joins the Spanish Republicans in the anti-fascist struggle during the Civil War in 1936... A powerful, defiant film that reconsiders an individual's relationship with history.
Comœdia Mon 14 4:30pm | Comœdia Wed 16 5:15pm
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