“I must clearly count intersexuality”

director Fernando González Molina (Pamplona, ​​​​​​​​1975) and the writer is now a writer Alan S. Portero (Madrid, 1978) received at El Cultural in a hotel in the center of Madrid, where they were quoted at the prensa para hablar de My question señoritaelectricity remake of the film of the same name by Jaime de Armiñan, who in 1972, during the Franco era, was a pioneer in dealing with the topic of intersexuality. Starring José Luis López Vázquez, the film was an immediate success, leading to an Academy Award nomination for Best English Film.

González Molina, who studied films like Three meters above the sky (2010) or Palmeras in the snow (2015), y Portero, author of the famous novel Bad habits (Seix Barral, 2023), derrochan complicity and harmony during a quick photo session we bake, something that will be preserved later during the interview. We bring you the details of the film starring the debutante Elisabeth Martínez and the department in which we meet such acclaimed actors as Anna Castillo, Paco León and Nagore Aramburu.

Please. What was your relationship with the original Armiñan film and what did you enjoy about it?

Fernando González Molina (FGM). I saw it in film school and vaguely remember the impression I got was that it was a completely unconventional film, very valuable and unique. When Los Javis asked me to adapt the film with Alana, I reviewed it and thought that I don’t really understand the life of this intersex character and I had a thousand questions about it. And yes, it was there that we found our way, which consisted of that shed light on the shadows of the original film.

Alana S. Portero (ASP). It is a work that is said to be amazing and worked wonderfully in its context. What happens happens to me I don’t think it would be a good idea to adopt this proposal language that Armiñán now needs to bring the story of a person from the LGTBIQ+ group closer. Take a moment to clearly tell the stories of people who have not been represented. The original guide is a superférreo, but above all it was an amazing terrain on which we could open up and illuminate the dark places that Fernando has.

P. How did I get my hands on the project? Was it Javis’ initiative?

FGM Yes. Specifically, it was Ambrossi who led me to the idea of ​​updating the classics of Spanish cinema. Subsequently, they called me and gave me two title proposals. The first to return My question señorita talk about intersex reality. The second thing is that Alana was thinking about writing a movie. I was in love with your novel The Bad Customsand just the idea of ​​talking to her in this story was very motivating.

ASP My journey was very special. It was also Ambrossi who got in touch with me and invited me to the workshops of his Suma Content product. They explained the project to me, told me that Fernando directed it and I didn’t do anything else. Also I’m sorry and I’m sorryBeing my first movie lover, it was not easy to get involved in an authentic classic of Spanish cinema, but from the beginning I was very encouraged by the enthusiasm of all the people involved in the project.

P. What interests you about this story?

ASP We wanted to take into account the experiences of the main character, so we could see the testimonies of intersex people who helped us a lot. Very important was Mer Gómez, who is a writer, activist and popularizer of intersex relationships. And then I’m going to ask you about this personal discussion process the dynamic rector was no longer a celebration. The people we are with and to whom we are close are very close to us, the people we live in, the people we love and hate… Rarely is a personal quest realized alone, as it is in the original.

FGM We also ask alejarnos of binary discourse original film. The solution to Adéla’s problem was to convert to Juan, and this journey from female to male is quite unrealistic in the intersex concept. We play with this duality in part of the film, but the same does not end there.

P. Does this point on stage affect the aesthetic of the original film and what would it break or subvert?

FGMThere is a visual dialogue with the elements of the artwork, such as lights, but here the reflections are rotated, multiplied or eliminated. Anyway, our film is more connected to the original in the first part, in a provincial town, than in the second part in Madrid, where he travels to completely different places. Yes, everything on stage is constant guides, like this character presentation in Madrid where we follow the soldiers. But we are trying to find our own visual style for our version.

P. What was the creative dialogue between management and leadership like? What aspects were discussed the most?

ASP The process was very intense and very difficult, but the collaboration was very easy. An art wall rises from here [Risas]. I’ve just started writing a guide and it’s a difficult task. I create it I never want to criticize the director of a movie what do you see In any case, Fernando taught me in some way, he was my teacher, as Malú would say. I said very clearly why one thing is yes and another thing is not, and that we want to give it away.

FGM Alana was a creative torrent. In no time I thought I had the beginning of a film and sent me no less than 90 pages. It was very generous because although the product is 100% genuine, I asked myself to speak so I could be present. We did an event in Pamplona and I told her a lot of things about my life, my traumas or my friends who appeared in the film. It was magical when I read the material and was able to see part of my life story in a movie that was completely written by her.

ASPIn fact, for me, authority is completely shared. And it’s something very good because we also wanted to get to know each other and see how I handed them to Fernando when I went to Madrid or what my life was like in those years.

P. Accepting a newspaper that has a famous legend like López Vázquez is not easy. Was it difficult to meet this new Adéla?

FGM Yes, it was very complicated. The first decision we make for war activism as well is that no male actor can be a male actor living the main character until you have to choose an intersex actress who will share Adele’s conflicts and who will help make this reality visible. And it was difficult because we don’t have a guide where a lot of intersex actresses appear, although there are probably a lot of them and we don’t know about them. So it was a pick and shovel job with associations. In the beginning we talked about our stories and there were many commonalities that also helped us build our relationship a lot.

»Eventually we got together with a girl who loved us, so we connected step by step with Elisabeth, a computer scientist who had never worked and who seemed perfect to us. We tried it out with the rest of the cast to see how the entire cast ecosystem works, and we agreed. Let us work with it a lot to teach you how to look at the camera or how to look at emotions. Liz has done a valuable job which was very complete for her as she wanted to face her own demons. And so we face our demons even when we are very sick.

P. The film moves from the 20th to the 21st century, and echoes of the Wanninkhof case resonate on television. Why was this moment and why was this crime?

ASP Because in those years Fernando and I kept more or less the story we wanted for the protagonist of the film and because that Madrid between 99 and 2000 was very special. Indeed, the Orgullo of 2000 was the first truly multiple. LGTBI activism is becoming increasingly important and is now championed in progressive legislation.

»On the other hand, changing the symbol and the millennium seemed very attractive because it also allowed us to play with the binary star on this journey of gender, sexuality, identity… And the Wanninkhoff case seems to me to be a perfect example of what it means to play with a person for what you think they appear to be. In Dolores Vázquez, all the advantages of the water company were absolutely condensed who died anyway, unfortunately. Although sometimes someone will mine it.

P. Do you think there are resonances between the honest repression in the original and the actual moment you release your film?

FGM Paradoxically yes.

ASP Of course yes. So let’s be very clear and understand the design language. For what we wrote didactic guide, frontal and which will carefully ask you about everything, because now is the time to do it. Now, the same proposition can be very good, but when you’re dealing with a subject like dissident corporations or those who have turned dissidents, you have to be very firm and direct about it. And above all, it resonates with what is going through now.

FGM More than the cinematographic quality of the film, much is said about its importance, what was the final feeling of making it. It was always clear to us that we had to say things in all caps and that this was the way to bring the 72 film up to date. Life is very hard and suddenly those who seemed to belong or be inherent in us began to question themselves. That is why my dear lady is more needed than ever.

ASPThe original was a very valuable film that explained how censorship came about and was set directly against the regime. Now we have to do the same, but with things that we definitely have to be active as a whole: clarity.