''Maixabel'' () is a 2021 Spanish drama film directed by

Icíar Bollaín Icíar Bollaín Pérez-Mínguez (born 12 June 1967) is a Spanish filmmaker and actress. Early life and education Icíar Bollaín Pérez-Mínguez was born in Madrid on 12 June 1967. She was one of twin girls to a father who was an aeronautical ...

and co-written by Bollaín and

Isa Campo Isa Campo (born 1975) is a Spanish screenwriter who has also directed and produced. She is a longtime collaborator of Isaki Lacuesta. Biography Campo was born in Oviedo in 1975. She moved to Girona, Catalonia at a young age, in the wake of her ...

. The film stars

Blanca Portillo Blanca Portillo Martínez de Velasco (born 15 June 1963) is a Spanish actress. Career Portillo started as an actress in several small theater productions before graduating in drama from the Real Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático. One of he ...

and

Luis Tosar Luis López Tosar (born 13 October 1971) is a Spanish actor and musician from Galicia. He is one of the most recognizable and versatile actors in Spain, best known for performances in films such as ''Cell 211'', ''Take My Eyes'', '' Sleep Tigh ...

alongside Bruno Sevilla, Urko Olazabal and María Cerezuela and is based on the true story of Maixabel Lasa, a woman whose husband, Juan María Jáuregui, was killed by

ETA Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...

, a Basque separatist group, and who receives an invitation to talk with the killers of her husband eleven years after.

Plot

Maixabel Lasa loses her husband, Juan María Jáuregui, in 2000 at the hands of the

. She later becomes director of the Basque office for terrorism victims. Jáuregui's killers have been sentenced to prison where they start to reject violence. Eleven years later, she receives an invitation for an interview from one of the killers of her husband, who is serving his sentence in a jail at

Nanclares de la Oca in Spanish and in Basque, is a village located in the province of Álava, ( Basque Country, Spain). It is also the seat of the municipality of Iruña de Oca and the most populated village of the region named Cuadrilla de Añana. Until its me ...

Álava Álava ( in Spanish) or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Álava, former medieval Catholic bishopric and now Latin titular see. Its ca ...

, after cutting his ties with the terrorist group. Despite doubts and immense pain, Maixabel accepts the invitation and comes face to face with the man who took her husband's life.

Cast

Production

The concept for the film came from the producers, Koldo Zuazua and Juan Moreno, who received a proposal to tell the story of Maixabel Lasa alongside screenwriter

in 2018. The film was produced by Kowalski Films and FeelGood, and it had the participation of EiTB, TVE, and

Movistar+ Movistar Plus+ (formerly Movistar+) is the trade name of the subscription platform for digital television owned by Telefónica, which operates in Spain. The service is distributed via optical fiber and ADSL and as well as with satellites such as ...

, support from ICAA, the

Basque Government The Basque Government ( eu, Eusko Jaurlaritza, es, Gobierno Vasco) is the governing body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain. The head of the Basque government is known as the ''Lehendakari''. The Lehendakari is appointed by the Basque P ...

, , and the collaboration of the Gipuzkoa Film Commission. It was shot in various locations of

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...

and

in the Basque Country,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. The music for the film was composed by

Alberto Iglesias Alberto Iglesias Fernández-Berridi (born 21 October 1955) is a Spanish composer. He was first noticed as a score composer for Spanish films, mostly from Pedro Almodóvar and Julio Medem. His career became more international with time and he even ...

, Javier Agirre Erauso was the cinematographer and Mikel Serrano was the production designer, other credits includes Alazne Ameztoy (sound), Clara Bilbao (costumes), Karmele Soler (make-up), Sergio Pérez (hairsytling) and Nacho Ruiz Capillas (editing).

Release

The film screened at the

69th San Sebastián International Film Festival The 69th San Sebastián International Film Festival took place from 17 to 25 September 2021 in San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Spain. The festival opened with Zhang Yimou's '' One Second''. Marion Cotillard and Johnny Depp were awarded the Donostia Awa ...

of 2021. Distributed by

Buena Vista International Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. until 2007, is an American film distribution studio within the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. It ha ...

, it was released in cinemas in Spain on September 24, 2021.

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 7.30. Juan Pando of ''

Fotogramas ''Fotogramas'' is Spanish digital and print film magazine which has been in circulation since 1946. It is one of the early film magazines in Spain. History Founded in Barcelona, it was first published on 15 November 1946 by Antonio Nadal-Rodó a ...

'' rated the film four out of five stars writing that "Bollaín demonstrates a masterful command of her craft in this, her most well-rounded film". Jonathan Holland from ''

Screendaily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

'' commented that the film is "a beautifully judged and sensitive exploration of the emotional fallout of terrorism".

Accolades

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27th Forqué Awards The 27th ceremony of the Forqué Awards was held on 11 December 2021 at the IFEMA Palacio Municipal in Madrid. The gala aired on RTVE Play, was hosted by Elena S. Sánchez and Marta Hazas. History The nominations were disclosed on 11 November ...

, , colspan = "2" , Best Film , , , , rowspan = "5" , , - , Best Film Actress , ,

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, , , - , Urko Olazabal , , , - , colspan = "2" , Cinema and Education in Values , , , - , align = "center" rowspan = "44" , 2022 , , rowspan="8",

9th Feroz Awards The 9th ceremony of the Premios Feroz, known as the Feroz Awards 2022, presented by the Asociación de Informadores Cinematográficos de España, took place at the Auditorio de Zaragoza in Zaragoza, Spain, on 29 January 2022, to recognize the bes ...

, Best Drama Film , Koldo Zuazua, Juan Moreno, Guillermo Sempere , , rowspan="8", , - ,

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

, , - ,

Best Actor (film) ''Best Actor'' is a 2010 Malayalam-language comedy drama film co-written and directed by Martin Prakkat. It stars Mammootty, Sruthi Ramakrishnan, Nedumudi Venu, Lal, Salim Kumar, Vinayakan, Master Vivas, Sreenivasan, K. P. A. C. Lalitha, Maste ...

, , - , Best Actress (film) ,

, , - , Best Supporting Actor (film) , Urko Olazabal , , - ,

Best Screenplay Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

, Isa Campo, Icíar Bollaín , , - , Best Original Soundtrack ,

, , - , Best Trailer , Rafa Martínez , , - , rowspan = "8" , 77th CEC Medals , , colspan = "2" , Best Film , , , , rowspan = "8" , , - , Best Director , , Icíar Bollaín , , , - , Best Actor , , Luis Tosar , , , - , Best Actress , , Blanca Portillo , , , - , Best Supporting Actor , , Urko Olazábal , , , - , Best Original Screenplay , , Icíar Bollaín, Isa Campo , , , - , Best Editing , , Nacho Ruiz Capillas , , , - , Best Score , , Alberto Iglesias , , , - , rowspan="14",

36th Goya Awards The 36th Goya Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences (AACCE), honoured the best in Spanish films of 2021 and took place at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia on 12 February 2022. The ceremony ...

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

, ''Maixabel'' , , rowspan="14", , - ,

, , - ,

Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to th ...

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Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress awar ...

, , - , Best Supporting Actor , Urko Olazabal , , - , Best New Actress , María Cerezuela , , - ,

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with the ...

, Icíar Bolláin, Isa Campo , , - , Best Original Score ,

, , - , Best Editing , Nacho Ruiz Capillas , , - ,

Best Art Direction The Academy Award for Best Production Design recognizes achievement for art direction in film. The category's original name was Best Art Direction, but was changed to its current name in 2012 for the 85th Academy Awards. This change resulted fro ...

, Mikel Serrano , , - , Best Production Supervision , Guadalupe Balaguer Trelles , , - ,

Best Sound This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow List of film awards, film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awa ...

, Alazne Ameztoy, Juan Ferro, Candela Palencia , , - , Best Costume Design , Clara Bilbao , , - , Best Makeup and Hairstyles , Karmele Soler, Sergio Pérez Berbel , , - , rowspan = "4" , 30th Actors and Actresses Union Awards , , Best Film Actress in a Leading Role , , Blanca Portillo , , , , rowspan = "4" , , - , Best Film Actor in a Leading Role , , Luis Tosar , , , - , Best Film Actor in a Secondary Role , , Urko Olazabal , , , - , Best Film Actress in a Minor Role , , Arantxa Aranguren , , , - , Spanish Screenwriters' Union Awards , , Best Screenplay in a Drama Feature Film , , Isa Campo, Icíar Bollaín , , , , , - , rowspan = "8" , 9th Platino Awards , , colspan = "2" , Best Ibero-American Film , , , , rowspan = "8" , , - ,

, , Icíar Bollaín , , , - ,

, , Isa Campo, Icíar Bollaín , , , - ,

, , Blanca Portillo , , , - ,

, , Luis Tosar , , , - , Best Supporting Actor , , Urko Olazabal , , , - , Best Editing , , Nacho Ruiz Capillas , , , - , colspan = "2" , Cinema and Education in Values , ,

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 14077696 Spanish drama films Films directed by Icíar Bollaín Films distributed by Disney Kowalski Films films Films shot in the Basque Country (autonomous community) 2020s Spanish-language films Films scored by Alberto Iglesias Films set in the Basque County 2020 drama films Films about ETA (separatist group) 2020s Spanish films

Plot

Cast

Production

Release

Reception

Accolades

See also

References

External links