It's the languid days of Spanish summer in a town near the Segura river. Seventeen-year-old Ana, played by Luna Pamies in a breakout film debut, experiences her first love under the disapproving eyes of the townspeople. Local legend claims that every few decades, as the river overflows sending storm-induced floods through the streets, a young woman's life is claimed by the water. As a storm approaches, Ana grapples with the call of the water and whether she has the strength to determine her own fate.
Elena López Riera was born in Orihuela (Spain) in 1982. After completing her doctoral thesis on contemporary Argentinean cinema, she teaches comparative literature at the University of Geneva, Carlos III University in Madrid and Valencia.
She has been a member of the selection committee of the Festival international de Belfort Entrevue since 2016, collaborator and consultant at the Seville European Film Festival and member of the selection committee of the Festival Visions du réel, Nyon.
She directed the short films Pueblo (presented at the Quinzaine des réalisateurs of Cannes Film Festival 2015, and Las vísceras (presented at the Locarno Festival, international competition Pardi di domani, distinguished by the Mikeldi Silver Award at the Zinebi International Festival).
Her latest short film Los que desean was nominated for the European Film Awards and won the Pardino d'Oro at the Locarno Festival in 2018.
She participated in the Berlinale Talent Campus of the 2017 Berlin International Festival.
Elena is currently developing her first feature film El agua. She was selected for the Cinéfondation, residence of the Cannes Film Festival, as well as for Ikusmira Berriak, residence of the San Sebastian Film Festival.
She was also awarded the REC Grabaketa Estudioa Prize, Ikusmira Berriak section of the San Sebastian Festival.
"Los que desean" (2018) / "Las vísceras" (2016) / "Pueblo" (2015)
Pardino d'Oro en el Festival Internacional de Cine de Locarno por "Los que desean", (Suiza) 2018
