Judith Colell i Pallarès (

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, July 14, 1968) is a Catalan film director, screenwriter and producer. Since July 2021 she has been president of the

Catalan Film Academy The Catalan Film Academy (''Acadèmia del Cinema Català'', in Catalan) is a non-profit organization located in Barcelona created to recognize Catalan film productions and professionals, with the objective of being a voice of the Catalan film ind ...

Biography

Colell was awarded a degree in art history at the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat de Barcelona, UB; ; es, link=no, Universidad de Barcelona) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, in Spain. With 63,000 students, it is one of the biggest universities i ...

. Afterwards she got a certificate in film from the

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. Since then, she has directed a number of films, including ''Dones'', winner of the 2001 Butaca Prize for best Catalan film, and ''Elisa K'', which was co-directed by

Jordi Cadena Jordi () is the Catalan form of the ancient Greek name Georgios. Jordi is a popular name in Catalonia and is also given in the Netherlands and in Spanish-, English- and German-speaking countries. Jordi may also refer to: *Sant Jordi – patron s ...

and has been shown at film festivals across the world. This film won the Jury's Special Award at 2010s edition of the

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; es, Festival Internacional de San Sebastián, eu, Donostia Zinemaldia) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in th ...

and the National Prize Of Cinema of the Catalan Government, the

Generalitat de Catalunya The Generalitat de Catalunya (; oc, label=Aranese, Generalitat de Catalonha; es, Generalidad de Cataluña), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia politically organizes its self-government. It is formed b ...

. She has also directed some telefilms, like ''Positius'', ''Radiacions'', and ''L'últim ball de Carmen Amaya'', the last of which aired on

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso *Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala *Channel 3 (Algeria), a public Algerian TV channel owned by EPTV ...

and was nominated for the

Gaudí Awards The Gaudí Awards ( ca, Premis Gaudí) are the main film awards of Catalonia, celebrated annually in Barcelona. The awards were established in 2009 by the Catalan Film Academy as a continuation and expansion of the Barcelona Cinema Awards (''Premi ...

. Colell combines her work as a director with university teaching. Since 2017, she has been the director of the Degree in Audiovisual Communication at Blanquerna FCRI University. She is an active voice in the sector. In 2011, she was elected vice president of the Spanish Film Academy, and in 2017 she joined the board of the

, then chaired by Isona Pasola. Since July 2021, she has served as the president of the

. Her most recent film, ''15 horas'', was shot entirely in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. The film, starring Sterlyn Ramírez,

Marc Clotet Marc Clotet Fresquet (born 29 April 1980) is a Spanish actor and model. He is best known for his roles in the soap opera '' El Cor de la Ciutat'' and the teen drama ''Física o Química''. Career Born in Barcelona, he has also worked as a model, ...

and Chabela Estrella de Bisonó, tells the story of Aura, a female victim of gender violence, who has fifteen hours to escape from her husband and attacker. The project has been recognized with the Signis Prize, awarded by the

World Catholic Association for Communication SIGNIS (official name: World Catholic Association for Communication) is a Roman Catholic lay ecclesial movement for professionals in the Media (communication), communication media, including News media, press, radio, television, cinema, video, M ...

, at the

Málaga Film Festival The Málaga Film Festival, formerly Málaga Spanish Film Festival (FMCE), is an annual film festival held in Málaga, Spain. The festival was established to promote Spanish cinema and help disseminate information about Spanish films. Since 2017, ...

Personal life

Colell lives with Jordi Cadena in

Sant Cugat del Vallès Sant Cugat del Vallès (; es, San Cugat del Vallés, link=no) is a town and municipality north of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Known as ''Castrum Octavianum'' in antiquity (which literally means ''the castle of Octavianus'') and as ''Pins del Val ...

and is mother of two.

Filmography as director

* 1991: ''Clara foc'' (shortfilm) * 1995: ''Escrit a la pell'' (shortfilm) * 1997: ''El domini dels sentits'' * 2000: ''Nosotras / Dones'' * 2003: '' Fragments'' * 2006: ''53 dies d'hivern'' * 2007: ''Positius'' * 2010: ''Elisa K'' * 2014: ''L'últim ball de Carmen Amaya'' * 2021: ''15 horas''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colell, Judith Film directors from Catalonia 1968 births Living people Catalan women Spanish film producers University of Barcelona alumni