Calle Málaga by Maryam Touzani: Carmen Maura opens the 29th Malaga Film Festival

The Malaga Film Festival started last friday with a red carpet full of stars, such as Carmen Maura, Álvaro Cervantes, and María León. Last year’s opening film was ‘La Deuda’, which dealt with the theme of old age, but not in the same way as ‘Calle Málaga’, the opening film of this 29th edition. It is one of the most anticipated ones in the official selection, having already received awards at the Venice Film Festival and the Mar del Plata Film Festival, among others.

This dramedy tells the story of María Ángeles (Carmen Maura), a Spanish woman who has lived her entire life in Tangier. She is very happy there, until one day her daughter Clara (Marta Etura) tells her she’s going to sell the apartment she is living in. This causes María Ángeles great distress, and she will do everything in her power to keep what is rightfully hers.

The director, Maryam Touzani, is Moroccan, which is undoubtedly key to the film’s authentic atmosphere. The combination of that with the wonderful performances of its actors, especially Carmen Maura’s, elevates a film with a simple story that I think touched everyone’s heart. In the discussion afterwards, the director spoke about the importance of the objects that appear in the film, both for her and for María Ángeles, focusing on the record player, which she says she always had in her family home, and the mortar that her grandmother inherited from her great-grandmother and which was passed down through all the women in the family. She also commented that this film was a tribute to her grandmother, who recently died.

Although it’s a drama, there are some great funny moments that are very well done throughout the movie. A key factor that made this work is undoubtedly the character of the nun, who, although she doesn’t speak, serves as a trusted person for María Ángeles. Both she and the rest of the characters are very well developed thanks to a solid script that culminates the story with a very realistic ending, which is my favorite part of the film. I really appreciate that the director decided to take a risk with that and not go for the easy route.

Carmen Maura herself said at the press conference that, although she had made more than 200 films in her life, this was the first time she had been asked to get undressed for a scene. A film like this one, which deals with the theme of desire and sensuality in old age, among many other related topics, is essential nowadays, as that has always been a taboo subject in cinema and in our daily lives. ‘Calle Málaga’ reminds us that desire knows no time, and leaves us with a lesson: you cannot live without feeling, even when the world seems to have decided that it’s no longer appropriate to do so.

Words by @joaquinxbc