Rita

Spain | 2024 | 94 min

Language: Spanish

Subtitles: English

Suitable for audiences aged 7 and above

Director(s): Paz Vega

Script: Paz Vega

Cast: Sofía Apelluz, Alejandro Escamilla, Paz Vega, Roberto Álamo, Paz De Alarcón, Amada Santos, Daniel Navarro

Production: Áralan Films, Rita la película

Distribution: Filmax

Drama

Female Director Society Sports Without Sports Debut History Family

Screenings:

Seven-year-old Rita is a capable and responsible girl. She makes her own breakfast, helps her mother with chores, and, when their parents argue, she consoles her little brother Lolo.

The short temper of their father, José Manuel, looms over the quotidian of Rita’s working-class family. Tension escalates even further when Rita’s grandmother falls and is hospitalized. Actress Paz Vega’s writer-directorial debut portrays daily life in the Sevillian summer heat, superimposing the worlds of grown-ups and children.

Adult concerns – money trouble, gendered expectations and violence – are all seen through the eyes of children. At times, what is important to grown-ups happens out of frame, where children cannot see.

Nadiye Koçak