''Mamacruz'' is a 2023 Spanish-Venezuelan

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film directed by

Patricia Ortega Patricia Ortega (Venezuelan , born 1977) is a Venezuelan film director. She has won multiple accolades, particularly for her 2018 film '' Being Impossible''. Early life Ortega says that she has been a movie lover since she was young, and so the ...

and written by Ortega and José Ortuño. It stars Kiti Mánver.

Plot

The plot concerns about the rediscovery of an old woman's long-forgotten sexuality and desire.

Cast

Production

Initially developed by Ortega in her native

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, the project did not manage to persuade potential co-producers to work in the country. Upon a meeting of Ortega with Olmo Figueredo at 2019 Rome's MIA Market, the project eventually moved across the Atlantic to Spain. The screenplay was penned by Ortega alongside José Ortuño, who helped to adapt the script to a "Sevillian idiosyncrasy". A Spanish-Venezuelan co-production, the film was produced by La Claqueta PC, Mamacruz AIE, and Pecado Films alongside Mandrágora Films, with the participation of Canal Sur Radio y Televisión, support from ICAA, and help from . Shooting locations included

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

Release

Selected for the 'World Cinema Dramatic Competition' slate, ''Mamacruz'' premiered at the

2023 Sundance Film Festival The 2023 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 to 29, 2023. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 7, 2022. Films U.S. Dramatic Competition * ''The Accidental Getaway Driver'', directed by Sing J. Lee * ...

on 20 January 2023.

Filmax Filmax International is a Spanish production company, motion picture production company and film distributor based in Barcelona, and one of Spain's largest integrated film and television groups. It produced the Rec (film), ''REC'' horror series, ...

swooped on international rights to the film in advance of its world premiere. It also made it to an out-of-competition slot of the official selection of the 68th Valladolid International Film Festival for its European premiere. It opened in Spanish theatres on 27 October 2023.

Reception

According to the American

review aggregation 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 ...

, ''Mamacruz'' has a 100% approval rating based on 19 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 7.9/10. Jonathan Holland of '' ScreenDaily'' assessed that "the veteran Manver delivers a masterclass in nuance as a quietly-spoken, humble and repressed woman undergoing a violent inner transformation". Jacob Oller of '' Paste'' deemed ''Mamacruz'' to be "a vibrant and lovely character study", that "makes the most of its horny matriarch". Laurence Boyce of ''

Cineuropa The MEDIA sub-programme of Creative Europe or simply Creative Europe MEDIA (formerly The MEDIA Programme of the European Union) is designed to support the European film and audiovisual industries. Budget The goal of programmers is to increase the ...

'' deemed the film to be a "personal and affecting piece of work that is both an achingly human portrait of a woman exploring her desires in her later years and a celebration of female sexuality".

Accolades

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11th Feroz Awards The 11th Feroz Awards, presented by the Asociación de Informadores Cinematográficos de España, took place at the Palacio Vistalegre Arena in Madrid, on 26 January 2024, to recognize the best in Spanish cinema and television. In the film categ ...

, , colspan = "2" , Best Comedy Film , , , , rowspan = "2" , , - , Best Actress in a Film , , Kiti Mánver , , , - , rowspan = "11" ,

3rd Carmen Awards The 3rd Carmen Awards ceremony, presented by the Andalusian Film Academy, took place on 3 February 2024 at Huelvas . It was hosted by Martita de Graná and Salva Reina. Background In November 2023, during the Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival ...

, , colspan = "2" , Best Film , , , , rowspan = "11" , , - , Best Director , , Patricia Ortega , , , - , Best Original Screenplay , , Patricia Ortega, José Ortuño , , , - , Best Actress , , Kiti Mánver , , , - , Best Supporting Actress , , Mari Paz Sayago , , , - , Best New Actress , , Mercedes Moral , , , - , Best Cinematography , , Fran Fernández Pardo , , , - , Best Editing , , Fátima de los Santos , , , - , Best Production Supervision , , Manolo Limón , , , - , Best Costume Design , , Esther Vaquero , , , - , Best Makeup and Hairstyles , , Anabel Beato, Carmela Martín , , , - ,

38th Goya Awards The 38th Goya Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain, took place at the premises in Valladolid, Castile and León on 10 February 2024. The ceremony was broadcast on La 1 (Spanish TV channel), La 1 ...

, , Best Editing , , Fátima de los Santos , , , ,

References

2023 films 2023 comedy-drama films Spanish comedy-drama films Venezuelan comedy-drama films 2020s Spanish-language films La Claqueta PC films Films shot in the province of Seville Films about old age Films about sexual repression Films about religion 2020s Spanish films

External links

''Mamacruz''
at ICAA's ''Catálogo de Cinespañol'' * {{IMDb title, 12390330