Belén Funes: "Going through grief and stopping is a privilege that few people can afford."

After winning three Gaudí awards and the Goya for best novel direction for A thief's daughter(2019), Belén Funes (Barcelona, ​​​​1984) premieres this Friday The Turtles, an expressive, layered drama about the relationship between a mother and daughter after the death of their husband and father, Julián, and the threat they face of eviction. Set between Barcelona and the Jaén countryside, Funes's second film crowns the Barcelona-born director. Does it give rise to a desire to talk about grief?

— We wanted to disprove the saying that "when it comes to death, everyone is the same," because it's not true. We wanted to talk about grief, but also about how social class goes through this grief, and being able to stop is a privilege that few people can afford.

In the film, mother and daughter have very different ways of dealing with Julián's death. Can the loss of a loved one jeopardize family ties?

— Rather, it transforms them. When a person dies, all roles are displaced, and we must realize the new space we occupy in the family and, above all, what role we want to play. In the case of Delia [the mother] and Anabel [the daughter], it's very evident that the roles have reversed: the loss has matured the daughter and, conversely, made the mother small and fragile. Anabel assumes the role of caregiver, and Delia, that of being cared for.

Do you think death makes us stronger?

— No. Death makes us live for a time in a space of great fragility and sadness, and if there's anything that makes us stronger, which I'm not sure about, it's sharing those feelings with the person at our side.

The acting of Antonia Zegers and Elvira Lara practically carries the entire weight of the film. What was the casting process like?

— Antonia had it in mind from the beginning because I wrote the film with her in mind; I'd already seen her act in films by Pablo Larraín, Marcela Said, and Dominga Sotomayor, all of which I really like, and I wanted to work together. In Elvira's case, it was a very crazy process. Together with the casting director, Cristina Pérez, we searched for the character.everywhere. For almost five months, we saw around 800 girls, and we knew we still didn't have her. But one day, Cristina saw Elvira in front of a library with a group of young people, and that same night, she called me to tell me she thought she'd found her. When I asked her why, she said, "Because she looks like you." It was very powerful.

The social vulnerability that comes with being a migrant is another of the major topics you address.

— We wanted to show that the system doesn't care how well you do or how exemplary your immigration process is, because the money-grubbing bastards always overrule everything. And if the day comes when you have to leave your house because the landlord wants to double the rent, then you'll have to leave. Delia is a migrant woman who isn't rejected by the people in the place she's arrived at, but by the system, which is cruel to her and to everyone else.

Unlike A thief's daughter, which passes to the city, The Turtles It takes place between Barcelona and the Jaén countryside.

— As a director, I strongly believe in authorship, and I like films to feel like me. I grew up between these two worlds because my father is from Jaén and always spent his summers there. I also wanted to show that in the countryside, just like in the city, there is light and darkness at the same time. We didn't want to romanticize it, because it is what it is, and if many people left, it was because everything was a ruin and that didn't work either. Now it's a space completely replaced by photovoltaic panels.

Having won a Goya and three Gaudís with A thief's daughter Did it add pressure when making the second film?

— I would have loved it not to, but the reality is it's been hellish. We're under a lot of pressure, and it seems like we always have to win. Palomero, Celia Rico, and Carla Simón often talk about all this.

How it has changed you personally, The Turtles?

— On the one hand, it has profoundly changed me because I've been able to bring closure to my family history. Before starting the film, my family decided to sell the olive trees and make a film, which is the best celebration; we've been able to achieve closure. On the other hand, it has allowed me to believe that I am a filmmaker. Normally, I don't believe anything in myself, and with The Turtles I have gone through a very strong growth process in which I have learned to trust my decisions.

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