This feature documentary centers on a remarkable journey through time, tracing a life that reaches toward its hundredth year. The film follows Maria Moreno, a nonagenarian whose experiences illuminate a long arc of history, and the filmmaker, David Valero, a San Vicente del Raspeig native, as they navigate memory, family, and the passage of time. The project aims to celebrate longevity with an intimate, human lens, and this year it is poised for a major presentation in Madrid. The plan includes a screening in the Berlanga Room to invite a broader audience to witness a life well lived. Among the selections, the Alicante director’s documentary stands proudly as one of ten titles chosen to accompany the SGAE Foundation’s new cycle, SGAE Documentary 2023. The initiative focuses on showcasing audio-visual works of special interest through curated screenings in Madrid, with a clear emphasis on documentary cinema that speaks to universal human experiences.
Valero’s film earned its place after forty proposals were submitted to SGAE members in an open call. A committee of producers reviewed the submissions and selected a lineup that highlights diverse approaches to storytelling. The chosen projects include intimate explorations of personal histories, friendships, hidden gardens, and portraits of families and communities. The selections illuminate themes of memory, identity, and daily life, all anchored in human experience and the inexorable march of time. These choices resonate with Valero’s vision and reflect a shared dedication to storytelling that speaks directly to audiences on a personal level.
The first episode of the SGAE Documentary 2023 series is scheduled to be shown from May 23 to 27. Five of the ten selected titles will appear in this initial window, with the remaining five slated for October. The feature-length work, The Longest Life, will be shown in two performances on each occasion, inviting viewers to engage deeply with its narrative through multiple screenings.
María Moreno appears in The Longest Life, a centerpiece of the program. The film documents lived experiences and the people who shape them, offering a portrait that invites reflection on aging, memory, and kinship without flinching from the complexities of time and change.
The film premiered last year at the DocsValència film festival and continued its festival circuit, including appearances at the Alicante Film Festival and the Ascaso Film Festival in Huesca. The director has earned recognition for prior projects, and the documentary is produced by Jaibo Films in collaboration with Polar Films. It has reached audiences in multiple venues, including screenings organized by Rhizome From Madrid, a company formerly connected with Valero and another collaborator on earlier projects. The journey of this film underscores a commitment to documentary storytelling that treats real life with honesty, care, and a steady hand.
Nearly all of The Longest Life was filmed in San Vicente, the town that emerges as the film’s emotional center. The score and sound design, crafted by Los Bengalas Orchestra with the contribution of an artist known as Scratch, guide viewers as they meet a great-aunt who anchors the central theme: how to live well when time presses on. The subject, Maria Moreno, is nearing ninety-four and faces the quiet imminence of mortality with grace. A neighbor of the same age adds warmth and humor, reminding audiences that resilience often comes with laughter. The documentary transforms ordinary days into a vivid celebration of life, paying homage to a generation born at the dawn of the last century, drawing a line from past to present that resonates with every viewer who has faced the aging process with dignity and everyday courage.