Isona Passola: "With your children, you are pouring the best water from your well."

BarcelonaWhen it comes to choosing the summer of her life, Isona Passola, film producer and president of the Ateneu Barcelonès, hesitates between 1994 and 2009. She clearly remembers the summer of 2009, when they filmed Black bread: "A very happy summer. It was the first time we shot a film in Catalan with the resources it required. In addition, I had the privilege of sharing it all with a director as brilliant as Agustí Villaronga." She recalls that it was a summer with a significant emotional component. They were more than prepared for the moment of truth, the filming, with the technical and artistic team ready, and spectacular sets.

At that time, Passola was convinced that the final result would be exceptional because in Black bread Everyone had given their all. Years later, he admits that it wasn't just a summer mirage, but that the filming was much more than expected, a celebration that gave them a ton of joy and that made them travel the world sharing the film and winning awards: "I remember it with a luminosity of soul and sharing."

Sharing is essential to her. That's probably why the summer of '94 was also one of the best of her life. It was the arrival of her only son, who had been a much-desired child. "I don't know what happiness is if you keep it to yourself and can't share it." Juan, her son, was a child fully shared with her partner and those around her, their families and friends. They spent half the summer in the Empordà region with one half of the family and the rest with the other. Everyone was happy. During those days, she often remembered what her mother always said: that to be happy, we should have children around us. Despite these being the first days with the child, she never felt burdened or enslaved; on the contrary, she remembers the joy of seeing him with them and with all the people who already loved her.

She says she's done it all: she's made films, been a teacher, founded associations... but the most important creative act of her life has been observing this little person, letting them be, and contributing the best of herself: "With children, you're putting the best water there is in your well." She's been driven by the idea of contributing to the creation of a human being, contributing the best of herself, trying to convey an ideal, even if it turns out to be different from what she imagined. She says she's convinced that motherhood is fantastic. "I get emotional thinking about the joy and warmth of that summer; it was so intimate and deeply emotional," she concludes.