Is there a more vibrant moment in Spain than the 19th century? The filmmaker Miguel Angel Calvo Buttini captures it with a rare blend of documentary insight and narrative depth. His work on ‘El Siglo de Galdós’ established a benchmark, presenting the author of ‘National Chapters’ as a living, breathing figure whose letters and public life illuminate an era. Now comes Emilia, a film that follows Emilia Pardo Bazán, a feminist thinker who moved with astonishing speed through the currents of modernity while remaining deeply rooted in Catholic faith. The production merges fiction and documentary, inviting audiences into cinemas this week, including those in Galicia, while Calvo Buttini’s previous project continues to resonate after its festival run at Seminci. The film’s next stop is a screening in A Coruña, the novelist’s homeland, inviting local viewers to engage with her legacy from within the city that shaped so much of her life.
In a conversation with this newspaper, the director reflects on the reception of his fourth feature, ‘El Siglo de Galdós,’ and explains how a fascination with Pardo Bazán’s correspondence led him to explore the writer’s world more deeply. He cites the theatrical monologue by Pilar Gomez as a pivotal influence and notes that a dialogue between Noelia Adamez and Anna R. Costa, represented by Neighborhood Theater, inspired a creative synthesis of fiction and documentary. The result is a portrait that honors the integrity of a remarkable Galician intellectual and champion of women’s rights, while threading in dramatic storytelling to illuminate her era.
Funding challenges in Galicia prompted a cross-regional collaboration, culminating in a Madrid-Murcia co-production. Although support from Axis PC and Twin Freaks Studio is acknowledged, most filming occurred across Galicia, with additional scenes in other autonomous communities and even in Paris. The cast and crew include a spectrum of notable figures who contribute texture to the tapestry—biographers, scholars, and writers who illuminate Pardo Bazán’s life from multiple angles. The journey also touches places tied to her narrative, from the Meirás country house to the Mondariz spa, and includes glimpses of what made her world so compelling to contemporaries and readers alike.
The film keeps the flame of feminism alive, tracing Emilia’s aspirations to join the Royal Spanish Academy and her eventual ascent to the Ateneo. The director emphasizes that the work foregrounds a radical yet balanced form of cross feminism within a Catholic, conservative milieu. Emilia’s story becomes a case study in negotiating double standards in personal life and public achievement, revealing a woman who chose independence and educated self-determination within the constraints of her time. Her journey is framed as a decisive challenge to the expectations placed on a wealthy, educated woman, highlighting how family support and personal conviction shaped her path.
Across the narrative from the 1860s to the late 19th century, the film traces a period of political and social upheaval, from legislative reforms to the rise of new cultural institutions. It also captures the intimate, human moments—the quiet acts of courage, the harsh clashes of opinion, and the surprising bonds that kept people connected even when they seemed divided. The story moves through bustling urban centers and intimate salons alike, showing how public life and private resolve intertwined in a time of remarkable transformation.