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Dismantling an Elephant, a new Spanish film offers a striking and intimate look at the consequences of addiction on families. Aitor Echeverría’s debut film features acclaimed actors Emma Suárez and Natalia de Molina as a mother and daughter caught in the grip of addiction.

Blanca (Suárez) and Marga (de Molina) are major characters in the story, and their lives are inextricably linked and affected by addiction. The film goes beyond the individual struggle to show how the sickness spreads across families, hurting everyone. Suárez and de Molina’s performances convey an emotive and nuanced picture of this shared pain.

In preparation for their roles, both women immersed themselves in the world of addiction. They attended family therapy sessions and toured rehabilitation facilities, learning from firsthand accounts. “The people we met were so generous in sharing their stories and vulnerabilities,” Suárez told me.

De Molina addressed the interconnectedness of addiction throughout the film.

In “Dismantling an Elephant,” Spanish director Aitor Echeverría delivers an exploration of addiction’s ripple effects within a family, framed through an intimate mother-daughter dynamic. The film stars Emma Suárez, a triple Goya winner known for Pedro Almodóvar’s “Julieta,” and Natalia de Molina, who has claimed two Goyas, including one for “Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed.” Co-stars include Darío Grandinetti (“Talk to Her”) and Alba Guilera.

For both of the film’s lead actors, Echeverría’s vision and the script were immediate draws. “It had such an original cinematic take on addiction, the story was told in a subtle way and the visual language was very elegant,” Suárez tells Variety. “And then, meeting Aitor, the director. He transmitted a lot of confidence and put a lot of faith in our work.”

De Molina echoes her co-star’s sentiment, explaining that her journey with the film began years ago.

A star-studded edition of the Seville European Film Festival wrapped up over the weekend, with Ludovich and Zoran Boukherma’s French coming-of-age drama “And Their Children After Them” taking home the Giraldillo de Oro, the Festival’s top honor. Its lead, Paul Kircher, also scored a best actor win.

This year’s Official Selection jury included legendary British producer David Puttnam (“Chariots of Fire”) as president alongside Oscar-winning actor Jeremy Irons, Rome Film Festival artistic director Paola Malanga, Algerian filmmaker Mounia Meddour (“Papicha”) and Yelmo Cines programming manager Eva Rekettyei.

Now, in its second year under director Manuel Cristobal, Seville has expanded its selection to include all types of European cinema, from the most experimental arthouse indies to broad four-quadrant fare. The festival also aims to increase its influence on the awards season with the addition of the Puerto América Award – given to the best Oscar-submitted film in the program...

The 21st edition of the Seville European Film Festival wrapped on Saturday (November 16) giving its top award, the Golden Giraldillo, to the French drama And Their Children After Them, directed by twin brothers Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma. The film’s star Paul Kircher also won the best actor award.

An adaptation of the Goncourt-winning novel of the same name by Nicolas Mathieu, And Their Children After tells the story of blue-collar youths living over four summers starting in 1992, and world premiered in competition at Venice this year. Charades are handling international sales.

Latvian Oscar entry Flow, an animation feature directed by Gints Zilbalodis,...

Julie Delpy’s Meet The Barbarians will open the 21st edition of the Seville European Film Festival on November 8. The Spanish festival turns the spotlight on European films during this year’s awards season.

Meet The Barbarians is a satire about the arrival of a group of refugees in a village in Brittany.

The official selection includes 19 titles in competition for its top award: the Golden Giraldillo, named after the statue that crowns Sevilla’s Cathedral, La Giralda.

The prize comes with €40,000 for the Spanish distributor of the winning film or €20,000 for the company that submitted the film to the...

Un íntimo y revelador retrato familiar marcado por el tabú y la relación entre una madre y su hija. © Filmax

Ya se ha publicado el primer tráiler y póster de la ópera prima de Aitor Echeverría, Desmontando un elefante, que competirá en la Sección Oficial del 21 Festival de Cine Europeo de Sevilla.

Desmontando un elefante sigue a Marga (Emma Suárez), una arquitecta de éxito que regresa a casa tras pasar dos meses en un centro de rehabilitación por un problema de adicción con el que su familia ha convivido en silencio durante años. Tras su llegada, Marga intentará rehacer su vida anterior mientras su hija menor, Blanca (Natalia de Molina), verá cómo la atención que presta a su madre afecta tanto a sus relaciones como a su carrera como bailarina profesional. Un año después, el elefante sigue siendo tan enorme como siempre. Aunque al menos, ahora, todo el mundo puede verlo.

Spanish production-sales-distribution house Filmax has boarded “Dismantling an Elephant,” the latest film from Barcelona-based Arcadia Motion Pictures, producer of Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s foreign-language Cesar winner “The Beasts” and Academy Award-nominated animated feature “Robot Dreams.”

Sold outside Spain by Filmax, “Dismantling an Elephant” toplines Emma Suárez, the triple Goya-winning star of Pedro Almodovar’s “Julieta,” and Natalia de Molina, who has won two Goyas, one for David Trueba’s “Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed,”which swept the Spanish Academy 2014 Goya Awards

At this week’s American Film Market, Filmax will show buyers a trailer of the film, which is currently finalising post-production.

“Dismantling an Elephant” looks to offer Suárez the typically gutsy role in which she excels, playing a mother trapped by both a close bond to her daughter, which is also a source of conflict, and a day-to-day life whose elephant in the room is her own addiction, which nobody mentions,...

Catalan films routinely punch above their weight at high-profile international festivals: Think 2022 Berlin Golden Bear winner “Alcarràs.” That trend looks primed to continue in 2024.

Catalan auteur Albert Serra will debut “Afternoons of Solitude,” co-produced by Catalan companies Andergraun Films and Lacima, with Ideale Audience and Tardes de Soledad.

A fall fest bet, “They Will Be Dust,” from Carlos Marqués- Marcet, is produced by Catalonia’s Lastor Media alongside Chile’s Alina Film and Kino Produzioni in Italy.

Few regions boast a lineup of female filmmakers as impressive as Catalonia. This year, new films from Goya Award winners Pilar Palomero (“Glimmers”) and Belén Funes (“The Turtles”) are strong contenders for festival recognition.

With the backing of Catalonia’s Minority Co-Production Fund, four international co-prods are poised to make a significant impact on this year’s festival circuit. Keep an eye out for Javier Rebollo’s “Close to the Sultan”, Calia Atan...

Screen shines a light on 30 European titles that look set to grab the attention of festival directors in 2023, including new features by Tom Tykwer, Paz Vega, Paolo Sorrentino, Cecilia Verheyden and Baltasar Kormakur.

For our separate list of French festival hopefuls for 2024, click here.

Ariel (Sp-Por)

Dir. Lois Patiño

Patiño won the Encounters special jury prize at Berlin last year for Samsara and picked up the emerging director prize at Locarno in 2013 with Coast Of Death. His latest is a free adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, shot in Galicia and The Azores islands. Ariel stars Goya winner Irene Escolar...

The list features 10 rising actors and filmmakers with the potential for breakout international careers.

The third edition of Spain Stars of Tomorrow, part of Screen International’s talent-spotting series, has been unveiled.

The list features 10 rising actors and filmmakers with the potential for breakout international careers.

Scroll down for profiles of the stars

The 2023 line-up will be presented on September 26 at a special launch event at the San Sebastian film festival.

The list of talents, featuring six actors and four filmmakers, was once again curated by Screen’s Spain correspondent Elisabet Cabeza.

The actors selected are Nourdin Batan, who made...