''Anchor and Hope'' ( es, Tierra firme, links=no) is a 2017 Spanish-British

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comedy-drama film directed by Carlos Marques-Marcet. The screenplay, written by Marques-Marcet and Jules Nurrish, was inspired by ''Maternidades subversivas'' by María Llopis (Spain, 2015). It stars

Oona Chaplin Oona Castilla Chaplin (; born 4 June 1986) is a Spanish-Swiss actress. Her roles include Talisa Maegyr in the HBO TV series ''Game of Thrones'', Kitty Trevelyan in the BBC drama '' The Crimson Field'', and Zilpha Geary in the series ''Taboo ...

Natalia Tena Natalia Gastiain Tena (born 1 November 1984) is a British actress and musician. She is known for playing Nymphadora Tonks in the ''Harry Potter'' film series (2007-2011), and the wildling Osha in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011-201 ...

, David Verdaguer, and

Geraldine Chaplin Geraldine Leigh Chaplin (born July 31, 1944) is an American actress. She is the daughter of Charlie Chaplin, the first of eight children with his fourth wife, Oona O'Neill. After beginnings in dance and modeling, she turned her attention to ac ...

. The film had its world premiere at the

BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...

on 10 October 2017.

Plot

Eva and Kat's humble, yet carefree, life in their London canal boat is turned upside down when Eva gives Kat an ultimatum: she wants a child. Kat resists, knowing that it will end the bohemian lifestyle she's always envisaged with Eva. When Kat's best friend from Barcelona, Roger, stops by to party with them, the three toy around with the idea of creating a baby together. Feeling backed into a corner, Kat consents. Surprisingly, the unusual do-it-yourself donor insemination is successful. As Eva enjoys her pregnancy and Roger fantasizes about his role in the new family, Kat begins to feel like a third wheel and starts to distance herself. When Eva has an unexpected miscarriage, everyone's true feelings are laid bare, leading Eva and Kat to break up while Roger prepares to go back to Barcelona. The three soon realize, however, that they can't survive without each other, and a new journey begins to build a family.

Cast

as Eva *

as Kat * David Verdaguer as Roger *

as Germaine * Becky Bullman as Vicky * Lara Rossi as Jinx

Development and production

The screenplay was influenced by the 2015 political book ''Maternidades subversivas'' by María Llopis.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

began in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on 5 September 2016. ''Anchor and Hope'' was produced by Lastor Media, Vennerfilm, and La Panda Productions, with financing also provided by the Department of Culture of the

Generalitat de Catalunya The Generalitat de Catalunya (; oc, label=Aranese, Generalitat de Catalonha; es, Generalidad de Cataluña), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia politically organizes its self-government. It is formed ...

and the

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. Avalon Distribución acquired the distribution rights in Spain for ''Tierra firme'' (''Anchor and Hope'') in August 2017. International rights for ''Anchor and Hope'' was acquired by Visit Films in October 2017. In May 2018, Network acquired the distribution rights to the United Kingdom from Visit Films, with rights to the United States picked up by

Wolfe Releasing Wolfe Video is the oldest and largest exclusive producer and distributor of LGBT films in North America. Founded in 1985 in New Almaden by Kathy Wolfe, the company began as a consumer mail order distribution company for lesbian VHS videos but ha ...

Release

''Anchor and Hope'' held its world premiere on 10 October 2017 at the BFI London Film Festival. It premiered theatrically in Spain on 24 November 2017, and in the United Kingdom on 28 September 2018.

Home media

''Anchor and Hope'' became available as

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in the United States on 20 November 2018. The

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

was released by

Wolfe Video Wolfe Video is the oldest and largest exclusive producer and distributor of LGBT films in North America. Founded in 1985 in New Almaden by Kathy Wolfe, the company began as a consumer mail order distribution company for lesbian VHS videos but ...

in Region 1 on 27 November 2018. In the U.S., the film became available for

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content i ...

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

on 15 February 2019.

Reception

Critical response

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, ''Anchor and Hope'' has a 76% rating based on 29 reviews, and an average rating of 6.6/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a score of 67 (out of 100) based on 9 reviews from mainstream critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". It was named one of the "best queer films of 2018" by ''

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

''. Female-centered film productions reviewer ''Womentainment'' said Eva and Kat's story was presented "in the most honest, heartfelt and beautiful way."

Accolades

, - , rowspan = "13" align = "center" , 2018 , , 5th Feroz Awards , , colspan = "2" , Best Comedy Film , , , , , - , rowspan = "11" , 10th

Gaudí Awards The Gaudí Awards ( ca, Premis Gaudí) are the main film awards of Catalonia, celebrated annually in Barcelona. The awards were established in 2009 by the Catalan Film Academy as a continuation and expansion of the Barcelona Cinema Awards (''Pre ...

, , colspan = "2" , Best Film Not in the Catalan Language , , , , rowspan = "11" , , - , Best Director , , Carlos Marques-Marcet , , , - , Best Screenplay , , Carlos Marques-Marcet, Jules Nurrish , , , - , Best Actress , , Oona Chaplin , , , - , Best Actor , , David Verdaguer , , , - , Best Production Supervision , , Sergi Moreno, Sophie Venner , , , - , Best Art Direction , , Tim Dickel , , , - , Best Supporting Actress , , Natalia Tena , , , - , Best Cinematography , , Dagmar Weaver-Madsen , , , - , Best Costume Design , , Vinyet Escobar , , , - , Best Sound , , Diego Casares, Jonathan Darch, Dani Zacharias , , , - , 27th Actors and Actresses Union Awards , , Best Film Actress in a Minor Role , , Geraldine Chaplin , , , ,

References

British Board of Film Classification The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of f ...

*
''Anchor and Hope''
at Lumiere {{Portal bar, Spain, United Kingdom, LGBT 2017 films 2017 LGBT-related films 2017 romantic comedy-drama films British independent films British LGBT-related films British romantic comedy-drama films Spanish independent films Spanish LGBT-related films Spanish romantic comedy-drama films Lesbian-related films LGBT-related romantic comedy-drama films 2017 comedy films 2017 drama films 2017 independent films Films directed by Carlos Marques-Marcet 2010s British films