Judith Colell i Pallarès (

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, July 14, 1968) is a Catalan film director, screenwriter and producer. Since July 2021 she has been president of the Catalan Film Academy.

Biography

Colell was awarded a degree in art history at the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...

. Afterwards she got a certificate in film from the

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. Since then, she has directed a number of films, including ''Dones'', winner of the 2001 Butaca Prize for best Catalan film, and ''Elisa K'', which was co-directed by Jordi Cadena and has been shown at film festivals across the world. This film won the Jury's Special Award at 2010s edition of the

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; , ) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spain, Spanish city of Donostia, Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Countr ...

and the National Prize Of Cinema of the Catalan Government, the

Generalitat de Catalunya The Generalitat de Catalunya (; ; ), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia is self-governed as an autonomous community of Spain. It is made up of the Parliament of Catalonia, the President of the Govern ...

. She has also directed some telefilms, like ''Positius'', ''Radiacions'', and ''L'últim ball de Carmen Amaya'', the last of which aired on

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso * Canal 3 Niger, a commercial television channel in Niger * Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala * Can ...

and was nominated for the

Gaudí Awards The Gaudí Awards () 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 (''Premis Barcelona de Ci ...

. Colell combines her work as a director with university teaching. Since 2017, she has been the director of the Degree in Audiovisual Communication at Blanquerna FCRI University. She is an active voice in the sector. In 2011, she was elected vice president of the Spanish Film Academy, and in 2017 she joined the board of the Catalan Film Academy, then chaired by Isona Pasola. Since July 2021, she has served as the president of the Catalan Film Academy. Her most recent film, ''15 horas'', was shot entirely in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

. The film, starring Sterlyn Ramírez,

Marc Clotet Marc Clotet Fresquet (born 29 April 1980) is a Spanish actor and model. Life and career Marc Clotet Fresquet was born in Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of ...

and Chabela Estrella de Bisonó, tells the story of Aura, a female victim of

gender violence Gender-related violence or gender-based violence (GBV) refers to any kind of violence directed against people due to their gender or gender identification, culture may have a role to play, being lower in egalitarianism societies and higher, sexist ...

, who has fifteen hours to escape from her husband and attacker. The project has been recognized with the Signis Prize, awarded by the World Catholic Association for Communication, at the

Málaga Film Festival The Málaga Festival, formerly Málaga Spanish Film Festival (FMCE), is an annual film festival held in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain. The festival was established to promote Spanish cinema and help disseminate information about Spanish films. Since ...

Personal life

Colell lives with Jordi Cadena in

Sant Cugat del Vallès Sant Cugat del Vallès () is a town and municipality north of Barcelona, Catalonia. Known as ''Castrum Octavianum'' in antiquity (which means ''the castle of Octavianus'') and as ''Pins del Vallès'' during the Second Spanish Republic, it is nam ...

and is mother of two.

Filmography as director

* 1991: ''Clara foc'' (shortfilm) * 1995: ''Escrit a la pell'' (shortfilm) * 1997: ''El domini dels sentits'' * 2000: ''Nosotras / Dones'' * 2003: '' Fragments'' * 2006: ''53 dies d'hivern'' * 2007: ''Positius'' * 2010: ''Elisa K'' * 2014: ''L'últim ball de Carmen Amaya'' * 2021: ''15 horas''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colell, Judith Film directors from Catalonia 1968 births Living people Catalan women Spanish film producers University of Barcelona alumni